A Letter from Chair, Kathy Feghali, Regarding Bedding + Trauma Counseling Project

Dear Friends,

Every time we think the situation in Lebanon can’t get any worse, it does. For those of us who watch from afar, it’s heartbreaking, but for those who are caught up in it, it’s devastating.

Once again, the eyes of the world are on this small country where the cycle of violence keeps spiraling.

Today, many of the schools EOL supports are overwhelmed with scared families sheltering there and in the parish buildings. These people are hungry, tired and traumatized. There is nothing that they don’t need.

EOL is helping by raising funds for:

• Bedding — mattresses, blankets, pillow — for 2,000 people. The cost of bedding for 1 person is $45.

• Trauma counseling for 500 children and their mothers. This mother/child service costs $100 for three months.

The Daughters of Charity school in west Beirut, where around 1,000 people are sheltering. (photo: Riad El Hajj)

 Give Today

To make this happen we need you. Please join Education and Opportunities for Lebanon (EOL) and our funding partner CNEWA (who are working on the ground). Any amount you can give is greatly appreciated.

On behalf of those who have lost so much, I thank you for being their bright light of hope.

With gratitude,

Kathy Feghali
Chair, EOL

EOL Receives Its Largest Donation from MCNBuild

In Lebanon, 18% of the student population and specifically 180,000 students attend parochial schools. These schools are currently in crisis as Lebanon is facing economic turmoil with 78% of people under the poverty line in Beirut, Lebanon’s capital. The revenue Catholic schools made from tuition was around $500 million before this economic crisis began in 2019. Now it has fallen to $45 Million. Students are not able to pay school tuition and need financial assistance to stay in school. 

With this cause in mind, EOL partnered with CNEWA-PM with the goal of raising money to pay the tuition fees for needy students attending 14 parochial schools. This project also provided teachers and staff with much needed financial assistance and helped the schools with their operating expenses. 

The MCN Build Foundation generously provided a $550,000 donation to fund this project. With this money working as a sponsorship, schools  agreed to reduce the $270 student fees by $165 for disadvantaged students, making school much more affordable for students in Lebanon. In addition, MCNBuild completely sponsored around 600 students, paying for their entire tuition. Additionally, part of the $550,000 went to giving the teachers and staff $50 per month and funding utilities and operating expenses. 

The 14 schools  are located in different areas of Lebanon. The  schools are located in: Deir el Ahmar, Terbol, Jezzine, Baalbeck, Hammana, Adonis, Hrajel, Ghazir, the Dora suburb of Beirut, Beit Habbak, Jbeil, and Bourj Hammoud. 

The MCN Build Foundation donation was the largest EOL has received to-date. It showed students, teachers, staff and families associated with the schools that someone cares. It gave them much needed relief from their difficult financial situations and allowed for another significant year of learning. Thank you Rudy Seikaly, Bassem Boustany, and Joseph Khoury for your generosity. We deeply appreciate the work of the MCNBuild Foundation under the directorship of Michael Waidmann. You truly changed lives.

Julia Williams

Below are letters from a student and a teacher from the EOL schools thanking MCNBuild for the generous donation

The 11th Annual EOL Fundraising Dinner - A Success

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

The Dr. George Salim Malouf Memorial Scholarship Fund

Dr. George Malouf was born in Zahle, Lebanon in 1924. He graduated from Université St. Joseph French Faculty of Medicine in Beirut, Lebanon in 1948. Completed residency at Boston University in Otolaryngology and Ophthalmology in 1953. A captain in the U.S. Army, honorable discharge in 1957. Dr. Malouf held many positions in the Maryland medical community. He served as President of the Maryland State Medical Society (Med-Chi) in 1984. A charter member in the Maryland Society of Eye Physicians. An elected delegate and longtime chairman from Maryland to the AMA. A recipient of the prestigious Benjamin Rush award from the AMA in 1992.

He was the beloved husband of the late Eva Catherine Fraiji-Malouf for 67 years. The loving father of Carol (Walid) Mufarrij, George (Grace) Malouf, Vivian (George) Zalzal, Alan (Mary) Malouf. Loving grandfather of Patrick (Kelly), Paul, and Phillip Mufarrij; Marc (Raquel), Dena, and Stefanie Malouf; Habib and Pierre Zalzal; Charles and Robert (Margaret) Malouf. Loving great-grandfather of Madelyn, Mackenzie, and Jack Mufarrij.

Dr. Malouf was a long-time supporter of Education and Opportunities for Lebanon (EOL). A Scholarship Fund has been established in his name to assist needy students.

Online contributions can be made above. Please include a “comment” that your donation is for The Malouf Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Dr. George Malouf

You can also mail donations for the Malouf Scholarship Fund, please:

Make Payable to CNEWA
(write EOL Malouf Memorial Fund on the memo line)

Mail to:
CNEWA , Attn. Noel Selegzi
1011 First Avenue
New York, NY 10022-4195.