São Paulo – Donations for the ‘Embracing Beirut’ campaign of the Consulate General of Lebanon in Rio de Janeiro ended this week, helping cement the bonds between Brazilians and the Lebanese people. The funds raised will be handed over to the Lebanese Red Cross to secure food supplies to 1,500 families which it currently assists.
Lebanon’s consul general to Rio, Alejandro Bitar, already has the next step in mind. “We are in talks with TV Cultura for another fundraising project for Lebanon. The idea is to have a show about tourism and cuisine, featuring chefs from Lebanon,” said Bitar, stressing the need to keep supporting the Arab country. “The Lebanese people needs this support in order to rebuild their homes and to endure this time of economic hardship, inflation and financial difficulties.”
The ‘Embracing Beirut’ project launched on September 20 with a concert featuring household Brazilian artists that aired on TV Cultura. The show got strong viewership and was rerun on September 27.
The three-week-long project enabled donations to the Arab country in the wake of the Port of Beirut blast last September. “The fundraiser was great, especially at an emotional, sentimental level. We had lots of people call us and send out messages to congratulate us and say good things about it. It isn’t just about raising funds. Apart from the money, our idea was to attract attention to what is going on in Lebanon, and to encourage the Lebanese community in Brazil to help their relatives back in Lebanon.”
According to Bitar, the concert was also met with acclaim in Lebanon, where a local TV channel aired it with Arabic subtitles. “The people of Lebanon really enjoyed watching the Brazilian artists on TV. We hope to keep working closely with the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, which helped us make this campaign possible,” the consul said.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
