What we did in 2020 Download 2020 report

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Dear friends and supporters,

Because of the coronavirus, this year we have not been able to travel to Lebanon, for the first time since 2008.

The year 2020 has been difficult for everyone, but really bad for Lebanon.

A severe economic crisis – coupled with the Syrian war – has destabilised the economy. The currency has lost 80% of its value; prices have skyrocketed. Middle-class people have become poor, and the poor have become destitute. Currently, more than half of the population of the country is below the poverty line. Of the Syrian refugees, 90% live in “extreme poverty”.

The coronavirus has of course taken its toll in Lebanon, too, with the added tragedy of very scarce economic means.

Then, on August 4^th, a terrible explosion killed more than 200 people, injured thousands, and inflicted billions in damage. No-one has taken responsibility for the 2750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been left in the port of Beirut, without safety measures, for nearly 7 years.

In this scenario, what we can do is really a drop in the ocean. But still more than zero.

In total, we sent 25’000 dollars, part to FAID, the school for deaf children that we have been supporting since 2008, and part to our partner Association Najdeh, working in Lebanon’s refugee camps.

FAID used the funds to

• create 76 individual education packs (covering 8 weeks of schooling) to support students to study at home, with tailor-made speech therapy exercises for the kids. It was a big piece of work by 13 teachers, the social worker and the psychologist, who follow those families where problems exist.
• finance a speech therapist, who teaches the deaf children to speak and lip-read, giving them the chance to communicate with the world and build an independent life for themselves.

Najdeh was able to

• prepare & distribute 256 food parcels for the neediest refugee families in the camps of Shatila and Burj El Barajneh, especially those headed by single mothers or with children with special needs (for a total of 1156 people)
• buy educational materials and books for the refugee children of the kindergartens we support

Teaching the deaf children at FAID:

Distribution of food packages in the refugee camps, funded by us and executed by Association Najdeh:

This year, given the special situation, we thought we really had a big mountain to climb in terms of raising funds. One of our friends, in fact, climbed three of them all in the same day – and raised 4’000 euro for Lebanon Trust in the process! We also had Bingo nights, street collections, an artist selling cat portraits, a friend donating in memory of a loved one, another donating part of her severance pay, another getting us into Amazon’s charity donation scheme, and many just quietly donating. To all, a huge heartfelt THANK YOU.

The “3 Peaks 3 Crosses” Challenge by Kevin Boyle:

Cat portraits, proceedings donated to Lebanon Trust:

A rainy Bingo night in Dublin, for intrepid supporters of Lebanon Trust:

Street collection in Tralee:

Financial Report

Income: donations to Lebanon Trust (Euro) (Dec 1st, 2019 – Nov 30th, 2020)

Fundraising events & initiatives, private donations, corporate sponsorships
Total	14573.54

(Year close Nov 30, 2020; EUR/USD/CHF currency exchange rate: as applied by our bank in Ireland)

Expenditure: Donations to the supported institutions, expenses (Euro)

Bank and other fees (*), web hosting & domains	406.08
Donation to FAID	11385.93
Donations to the refugee camps (Association Najdeh)	10510.08
Total	22302.09
Difference	-7728.55

(*) Permanent TSB Forex, PayPal, JustGiving, Benevity

A donation of USD 5000 from Amazon has been arranged for next year (many thanks Mick!).

Our gratitude to the friends who helped this year (Dec 1^st, 2019 – Nov 30^th, 2020):

Kevin Boyle (Tralee) for his fantastic generosity & mountaineering skills All the friends who sponsored Kevin Mick Halpin & family (Dublin & USA), for their unwavering support and generosity Diederik Brasser (NL) for his generosity Patricia Meade, a truly loyal friend (USA) All the Symantec friends (Dublin) Geraldine McGrath (Dublin) St Peregrines GAA Club (Dublin), for their ongoing support Dublin Dumbbells (Dublin) Paul’s Barber Shop, Crumlin (Dublin) All the generous Walkinstown friends in St Peter’s Crescent and St Peter’s Drive for their constant support McCormack’s Cycle Centre (Dublin) O’Neill’s House of Sport (Dublin) Paul Reid Dental Laboratories (Dublin) Kelly’s Welding & Engineering Supplies Ltd (Dublin) Gerard Kelly (Dublin) All the lads at Bisset Engineering (Dublin) Big Mick (Dublin) Brenden & staff at Lilliput Stores (Dublin) Pat Stafford of Stafford Engineering (Dublin) Dolphin Furniture Sales (Dublin) OK Living Kitchens & Bedrooms (Dublin) ProWeld (Dublin) Griffin Digital Print (Dublin) The Terence Welding Company (Dublin) the many, many “Anonymous” donors Mark Drummond Colin Micheál Leahy family Kathleen Curtin Kieran o Shea Gerardine Cotter Joanne Susan McNamara StaceyDeirdre, Joe, Anton and Mary Don and Siobhan Una and Kieran Kevin & Noreen Uncles and auntie Mary Stephen Kayla and Amelia Sharon O S Christine, Nora & Danny Nicola Karen Condon Dee, Tom H, Mike O’D, Sean, Joanne, Niamh, Shane, Adam, Chris, James, Donie, John, Michael H. Anne and Jerry casey Patrick Sullivan Ken and Lisa

Joan & Peter The luckiest son in the world Mum Ken and Liz Mike Higgins Bryan and Gráinne Aidan and Sharon Gary, Judy, Lauren and Kerri. Pen and John Monika and the kids. Ryan Boyle Grainne Damien Ginty Michele and Fergus Tracy O Keeffe Sandra and Sean O Keeffe Peter White Trevor Devereux Marion O’Mahony Andrea and the O’Donoghues Gerardine Gardezi Sam David Bernie Anna Galli (Genoa, Italy) Fasciolo (Arquata Scrivia, Italy) Fabio Minotti (Lentate sul Seveso, Italy) Giorgio Margotti (Livorno, Italy) Silvana Falaschini (Livorno, Italy) Fam Zappavigna (Marina di Massa, Italy) Romilda Cocurullo (Genoa, Italy) Enrico & Lilli Bertolotto (Genoa, Italy) Parodi (Genoa, Italy) Devia (Genoa, Italy) Vigna-Mori (Savona, Italy) Stefano Cocurullo (Genoa, Italy) F & M Cocurullo & fam (Genoa, Italy) Luca Baur (Zurich, Switzerland) Iolanda Bianchi (Genoa, Italy) Aquini (Arquata Scrivia, Italy) Ricci (Arquata Scrivia, Italy) Gli Amici di Montaldero (Arquata Scrivia, Italy) Bertolotto-Della Penna (Genoa, Italy) Anna Dal Negro & fam. (Zurich, Switzerland) Fam Bertolotto-Della Penna (Genoa, Italy) MC Ferraro & A Bertolotto, in loving memory of Natale Ferraro (Genoa, Italy) Ole Vossnack (Zurich, Switzerland) Fabio Minotti (Lentate sul Seveso, Italy) Adarsh Vishwanath Holly Elliott Helen O’Mahony Killian Sheehan Nathael Turcot Kalid Alkhairi Sai Prasad Veeranki Puteri Yudhita Widyawati (Kim Jisoo donation)