S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 Donations for the \u2018Embracing Beirut\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
Lebanon\u2019s consul general to Rio, Alejandro Bitar, already has the next step in mind. \u201cWe 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,\u201d said Bitar, stressing the need to keep supporting the Arab country. \u201cThe Lebanese people needs this support in order to rebuild their homes and to endure this time of economic hardship, inflation and financial difficulties.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u2018Embracing Beirut\u2019 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<\/a>\u00a0on September 27.<\/p>\n The three-week-long project enabled donations to the Arab country in the wake of the Port of Beirut blast last September. \u201cThe 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\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Bitar, the concert was also met with acclaim in Lebanon, where a local TV channel aired it with Arabic subtitles. \u201cThe 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,\u201d the consul said.<\/p>\n Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/strong><\/p>\n