Community Service Across Divides: Sharing Meals
As part of its commitment to civic engagement and social cohesion, Hona Beirut launched a series of community service initiatives that brought together youth from diverse backgrounds to support neighborhoods across sectarian lines. These activities went beyond addressing immediate humanitarian needs they created powerful moments of solidarity, empathy, and transformation.
In two impactful activities, Hona Beirut youth worked together to prepare, package, and distribute meals in underserved communities specifically in Karantina, a predominantly Christian area, and Tarik Jdideh, a predominantly Sunni area. The initiative was not only about providing food, but about breaking social barriers and building trust in areas many of the youth had never entered before all the while working with one another, as they themselves come from different and diverse backgrounds.
Collaboration with Mariam’s Kitchen – Karantina:
In Mariam’s Kitchen, a community soup kitchen based in Karantina, Hona Beirut youth joined efforts to prepare and distribute 3 thousand hot meals to families in need. The area, marked by its historical vulnerabilities and sectarian identity, became a space where young people engaged directly with local residents from the area.
This experience reinforced the idea that service is a universal language one that builds trust, strengthens empathy, and unites people across differences.
Collaboration with Al Jarrah Scouts Soup Kitchen – Tarik Jdideh:
In a second initiative, the youth collaborated with Al Jarrah Scouts in Tarik Jdideh to support 400 community members. Here too, the young volunteers embraced the opportunity to work in a different sectarian context, once again demonstrating that genuine connection and care can replace suspicion and separation.
Serving others in these diverse communities gave the youth a deeper sense of service and a shared sense of belonging to Lebanon as a whole, with the diverse social fabric that it holds, contributing to all areas in Beirut. It also deepened their commitment to active citizenship.
