One Week To Go: Donations Flood In For Maltese-Lebanese Chef’s Beirut Donation Kitchen
Hany Harb, chef patron of locally-renowned restaurant ‘Ali Baba’, and four other chefs have raised €5,000 for their mission to open a donation kitchen in Beirut, which is set to kick off next week.
This initiative was founded shortly after the tragic Beirut explosion, which claimed the lives of hundreds of people and left thousands injured.
Harb will be accompanied by four other chefs on this endeavour – Rafel Sammut from Gżira restaurant ‘Briju’, Robert Bonello, Jean Galea Souchet, and Marko Pavlovic.
“Whilst some of the other chefs have friends in Lebanon, others are doing it out of respect for us,” Harb told Lovin Malta.
The five-strong team of chefs is set to arrive in Lebanon next Monday for five days of hard work with the community.
Having raised €5,000 in under a week, the team is looking to reach a target of €15,000 prior to its departure.
“We will use the money to buy the food ourselves as soon as we get to Lebanon,“ Harb said. “It is safer that way – the country is very corrupt so we don’t want to risk getting scammed.”
Harb went on to tell Lovin Malta that only recently he had tried purchasing some kitchen equipment from Lebanon costing €4,000, only to later find out that he had been scammed.
Donations to this initiative can either be dropped off at Ali Baba in Gżira or sent through Revolut on +356 9945 0211. Revolut donors are to leave a note specifying that the funds are a donation to the Lebanese donation kitchen.