Our 11th Annual Fundraising dinner on March 19, 2023 was a great success. It was held at the Lebanese Taverna at Tysons Galleria in Tysons Corner, Virginia. This was our first annual dinner since the Covid-19 pandemic, and it was a great comeback from social distancing with over 150 attendees. Since 2019, Lebanon was not only impacted by the coronavirus, but also suffered from the horrific port explosion and the collapse of the economy—devaluing currency by more than 90% and pushing the vast majority of the population into poverty. This dire situation has made EOL fundraising even more critical. The dinner focused on celebrating the generosity and the success of the MCNBuild Foundation donation of $550,000 to 14 impoverished, parochial schools in Lebanon. The MCNBuild Foundation paid tuition for over 600 students, financially assisted teachers and staff, and helped pay for school utilities.
The short dinner program began with a touching video of one of the schools in Rmeish, Lebanon. It was followed by a few words from EOL Chairperson, Kathy Feghali, who summarized the recent achievements of EOL and thanked the owners of MCNBuild: Rudy Seikaly, Bassem Boustany, and Joseph Khoury. She gave each of them a plaque to show EOL’s gratitude for their donation and Rudy Seikaly responded with a few words on how he discovered EOL years ago. He mentioned that a friend told him about EOL and he saw a post on the website for an urgent need for blankets for orphans at a school in Mrouj. He and the MCNBuild Foundation have continued their support ever since. The guests were very touched by the video and by how much MCNBuild and EOL changed the lives of students, teachers, and families across Lebanon. The dinner was the perfect way to celebrate both connecting after the pandemic and MCNBuild’s generous gift.
Julia Williams
