10 days have passed since 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate blew up in Beirut and brought devastation and death on a horrific scale.
Since then, Canada has been one of the most active countries with respect to relief and donation efforts.
Early on in the aftermath of the blast, the Canadian government pledged $5 million to support Lebanon through the tragedy. This number jumped to reach $30 million when, on August 10th, Canada announced an additional $25 million in aid.
In the meantime, the country’s Humanitarian Coalition, which brings together several humanitarian organizations, was collecting additional donations from the Canadian people.
These donations have, as of Thursday, reached $4 million, a source at the Humanitarian Coalition told The961. Impressively, this figure was raised in just 6 days from the announcement of the Lebanon Matching Fund.
This number, which is still subject to increase, will be inflated when the government finally matches it, adding at least $8 million to the grand total of Canada’s donations to Lebanon.
Contributing to this number are several Lebanese-Canadian business leaders, whose newly-announced Lebanese Canadian Coalition (LCC) has been raising money in partnership with the Humanitarian Coalition’s fundraiser.
On its own, the LCC has gathered nearly $380,000 from 1,260 donors, as of the time of writing. The LCC’s founders had set a target of $2.5 million, of which 15% has been raised in less than a week.
Canada has also stood by the Lebanese people and provided moral support after the explosion by lighting up its CN Tower with the Lebanese flag.
The symbolic expression of solidarity was soon followed by a minute of silence that was observed at the beginning of the Canadian Parliament’s latest session, in tribute to the August 4th victims.
Going forward, Canada “will continue to monitor the situation in Lebanon” to determine “the best way to offer its assistance,” International Development Minister Karina Gould recently said.
