ABOUT OUR NGO

Our mission is to give a helping hand to the unprivileged people by implementing programs to improve the quality of life and health and to reduce hunger and poverty.

Gestures From The Heart is a group of volunteers from Zgharta, a village in Northern Lebanon, alarmed of the increasing rate of poverty and diminishing quality of life in our community. Gestures From The Heart perceives the need to take immediate action towards these disparities.

This is how it all started...

Gestures From The Heart initiative was first taken in Christmas 2011 by creating a group on Facebook called Christmas 2011 In Zgharta. The group has over a thousand member and still growing. The main objective of this group was fundraising to provide food packages for 100 families. The collected donations exceeded our expectations by far which enabled us to fund other projects throughout the year.

In August 2013 “Gestures From The Heart” was registered officially as a non- profit apolitical and non-religious organization in Lebanon.

Our Mission

Our mission is to give a helping hand to the unprivileged people by implementing programs to improve the quality of life and health and to reduce hunger and poverty. Our projects will target the abandoned elderly, deprived families with no or limited resources, children and widows.

OUR ACHIEVEMENTS

With the donations gathered in December 2011, we were able to:

• Distribute food items for 102 families
• Prepare a Christmas dinner for 7 families
• Organize a Christmas party for more than 100 children
• Distribute Christmas gifts for 100 children

Note that the selection of persons to receive our assistance was by a needs based approach rather than merit.

The success of the project let us win the trust of both the local community and donors. As winter got colder we started receiving SOS calls from the local community members and different entities asking for our help to provide heating material.

During our distribution courses, the level of poverty shocked us. The people we encountered were barely surviving.

With the surplus of donations gathered in Christmas, we were able to provide:

• Non-food Items (NFI)
• Providing Blankets (for 90 elderly persons), fans and an air conditioner/heater for a nursing home in Kferyachit
• Sponsorship of a summer camp for 50 children.

With the encouragement of friends and donors, we continued our project in 2012. It started with “Christmas 2012” and the campaign was named “Food from the Heart.”

The project targeted 112 elderly and 20 families. We were able to raise twice as much donation from 2011 and consequently offered almost twice of what we did in 2011.

To our surprise, money kept flowing. The project was more than a success and the remaining funds raised are now being allocated on other projects. Such as:

• Christmas party for 70 children.
• Christmas gifts for 70 children.
• Prepared a Christmas dinner for 13 families.
• Distributed Non-food Items (NFI).
• Provided Blankets, pillows, and kitchen utensils for elderly’s nursing home in Kferyachit.
• Distributed blankets for the prisons of Zgharta, El-Kobbeh and Tripoli.

During our distribution courses, the level of poverty shocked us. The people we encountered were barely surviving. Any lack of what little they had meant their death.

The positive support and encouragement gave us the motivation to consider expanding our activities and organize events on a regular basis and that’s how it all started.

Most of the people supporting and volunteering with us were keen to join our NGO thus we started enrolling members.

Consequently, we received a generous grant which allowed us to organize a big Easter event. This donation provided 100 food packs, Easter cookies and “Maamoul” for 100 families.

Last summer, we organized an excursion for 115 elderly, the majority of whom live between Zgharta and Ehden. “A Day from The Heart” was an all-day lunch for which preceded a mass at the church.

We also used the surplus funds to provide chronic medications, new furniture and food items for the most vulnerable.

Followed to all the mentioned projects, the Christmas 2013 project and the Easter 2014 project. Due to the flow of money we were able to:

• Provide about 300 food packs and hygienic kits.
• Provide lunch for two different elderly houses for about 80 elderly.
• Egg cracking with 100 elderly.
• Easter party for 150 orphans

OUR NEEDS

We were able to gain donors' trust in a short time thus were able to give it all from the heart and expand.

Since we started our activities in December 2011, people with good deeds contributed in funding our project. The surplus of the donations from each project was used in other small development plans. However, to keep their livelihood status consistent we need to assist them on a recurrent basis. Thus, our NGO needs additional funding.

The persons of concern to us are vulnerable for many factors; to name a few:

1. They have no families to support them.
2. Support from local entities are very scarce and barely enough for their survival.
3. No government plan exists for their assistance.
4. Donors no longer trust political or religious affiliations yet they showed their willingness and trust to help private non-affiliated attempts.

Gestures From The Heart was able to gain donors' trust in a short time thus was able to give it all from the heart and expand.

OUR FUTURE PROJECTS

Gestures From The Heart is seeking to bring a radical change to the elderly’s lives out of the belief that every person is allowed to a decent life, and people are responsible to help each other. For this purpose, we keep developing and implementing new projects. Check out our list-to-date of our future projects to further help elderly and needy people.