CDF’s Ms. Bitar discusses Lebanese People’s Plight With Congressman LaHood Advocating For Sustainable Approach
Posted on September. 10. 2021
Lebanon is from the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic coupled with unprecedented economic crisis in the aftermath of the omni bomb blast at the heart of the capital Beirut in August 2020. Many Lebanese including Lebanese Armenians lost their last safety net. As many Lebanese face an unstable and uncertain future, a certain number emigrate to faraway lands including America in an effort to find immediate solutions to the crises confronted by their families.
What are organizations such as Charity Donation Foundation doing to assist the Lebanese people in their hour of dire need?
Charity Donation Foundation is a Lebanese non-profit that works on poverty alleviation projects. The Foundation declared the incorporation of its headquarters in Washington, DC in October 2020, and in February 2021, it received 501(c)3 status.
In 2021, Charity Donation Foundation’s mainly focused on helping the struggling Lebanese, with the correct means via a sustainable approach, rather than momentary relief.
Based on this ideology, and after deep research, the Foundation’s board in the United States of America unveiled an important issue that has not been tackled properly: the status of Lebanese nationals in the US. There is a huge community of Lebanese expats scattered within the United States of America but not all are naturalized Americans, however; about 43% are students and working professionals. Whereas the situation in Lebanon is rapidly declining at a record speed, and with the COVID 19 pandemic removing any last safety net, the Lebanese expats are finding themselves caught with an unstable and uncertain future, threatened to lose their status within the United States of America, the fact which would force them to leave back to Lebanon.
As a non-profit that is striving to help the struggling Lebanese, Charity Donation Foundation unveiled this situation and discovered a letter that was being circulated by about 148 organizations after the major Beirut Blast, asking for a designation for Temporary Protected Status for Lebanese nationals in the US.
The Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, grants a safety net to stay in the US for a specific time while they can work to support their families. Having this status would keep Lebanese nationals from being made to leave the country and return to a collapsing Lebanon.
The foundation took the matter into its own hands, drafted an updated version of the letter, and started contacting entities and working nonprofits to support the cause.
In a major step to further advance the efforts in service of Lebanese people, the Foundation’s President, Architect Ms. Terry Bitar, visited Congressman Darin LaHood, of Lebanese descent, where they discussed the general situation of Lebanon and the major contributions of the United States.
The focus was on the Lebanese expats within the US and how a TPS would help them.
Ms. Bitar expressed the desperate need for a TPS-Temporary Protected Status designation to all Lebanese nationals in the US as another means to help the struggling Lebanon. Mr. LaHood expressed empathy and support.
Charity Donation Foundation will not stop working to help the Lebanese people, both at home and abroad.