Celebrity
Wassim Slaiby & Rima Fakih’s Campaign to Support Lebanon
They were the first to donate
Vanessa Haber
11-August-2020
Humanitarian aid to ensure Lebanon disaster relief are multiplying, after a massive explosion left the capital Beirut devastated last week, causing severe damages and a large number of victims. Among humanitarian campaigns raised to support Lebanon, XO CEO Wassim SAL Saliby and former Miss USA Rima Fakih launched a campaign to help Lebanon in collaboration with the Global Citizen Association.
The Slaibys were the first to donate through this campaign with $250,000 for the Lebanese Red Cross and the UN World Food Program and the Child Cancer Center in Lebanon.
Wassim Saliby called everyone to stand in solidarity with the people of Lebanon, to join the Global Aids for Lebanon campaign, he said,
"My heart breaks for Lebanon, it needs us today more than ever. These scenes of devastation bring back the difficult moments I lived with my family in war, which made me emigrate at a young age after losing my father, and I do not want the new generation to have this painful fate."
Also, the Secretary General of the Lebanese Red Cross, Georges Kittani, thanked this initiative to help Lebanese people, and said:
“Lebanon today suffers from crises and tragedies. The Lebanese Red Cross is providing care for the injured and those affected by the explosion with transparency and independently.”
“Lebanese Red Cross volunteers were the first to respond to the call shortly after the explosion, and we are currently working with all helping parties to provide healthcare, shelter and aid for those in dire need of help,” he added.
The campaign was launched under the hashtag #GlobalAidsForLebanon on social media, and you can visit www.globalcitizen.org/Beirut to donate in order to provide urgent aid to Lebanese people without going through the government.
The Weeknd was one of the celebrities who supported Beirut relief, as he donated $300,000 to the Global Aid for Lebanon campaign. Also, the Candian-American businessman Michael Rapino has donated $50,000 for the campaign, which aim to support the above mentioned NGOs providing help for people of Lebanon after the exposion. SAL went on social media and thanked both of them and said: "I am so honored and humbled to work with artist’s who have such deep care for the world and right now for our brothers & sisters of Lebanon who are in pain and need our collective help."