As Lebanon continues to struggle under the weight of overlapping crises, from war and economic collapse to poverty and displacement, humanitarian initiatives aimed at supporting the Lebanese people are intensifying.
Within this context, Polish Catholics have launched an international initiative to assist Lebanon's most vulnerable families. "Lebanon in Need" was launched by the Maronite Missionary Foundation in Poland in partnership with 4fund.com, one of Poland's largest licensed financial institutions specializing in humanitarian fundraising, as part of the broader international campaign "Europe for Lebanon."
The initiative operates as a voluntary crisis committee that combines pastoral mission with regulated European financial infrastructure, with the aim of ensuring that every euro donated in Europe reaches Lebanon safely, transparently, and in full.
Addressing gaps in humanitarian aid to Lebanon
"Lebanon in Need" was launched at the beginning of March to address a specific challenge: how to transfer European generosity to Lebanese families without the complications, losses, and regulatory ambiguity that often weaken cross-border Catholic humanitarian campaigns.
Having already worked in Lebanon in 2020, the foundation knew that many Catholics in Poland, Italy, Portugal, and other European countries were willing to help. At the same time, it understood that smaller Catholic initiatives often lack the financial and regulatory infrastructure necessary to receive donations on a large scale and transfer them quickly and transparently during times of war.
This led to an unusual partnership between the foundation, through its Church networks and ties with Lebanese Christian institutions, and 4fund.com, the international arm of the Polish crowdfunding platform zrzutka.pl. Together, the two entities launched "Lebanon in Need" as the operational arm of the wider "Europe for Lebanon" campaign, creating a model that combines pastoral mission with organized European financial systems.
While Catholic humanitarian initiatives traditionally rely on parish networks and volunteer work, crowdfunding platforms rely on technology and modern financial systems. This initiative brings both worlds together with the goal of ensuring that aid reaches its beneficiaries with greater transparency and credibility.
Support reaching the most vulnerable families
In Lebanon, field operations rely on a network of trusted institutions that have played a key role throughout the country's successive crises, including Caritas Lebanon, the Lebanese Red Cross, as well as a wide network of parishes, dioceses, and local Church institutions, where priests and social workers personally know the families most in need.
Aid is directed toward the groups most affected by the crisis, with particular attention given to families displaced by bombardments, elderly people living alone, women and children in vulnerable conditions, sick and disabled persons, as well as families living in extreme poverty and residents of collective shelters, remote villages, and under-resourced host communities.
Although the initiative is rooted in Christian values and gives particular attention to Christian families who have lost everything, assistance is provided to all those in need, regardless of religion, background, or political affiliation.
This story was first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
