Lebanon is going through a critical socio-economic time with a soaring inflation - just in a few months, the prices of basic goods have doubled and keep on increasing. In Tripoli, a city infamous for poverty and political neglect already before the crisis, people are no longer able to buy food for themselves. Help us in making a long term impact for the people in the city by supporting Social Grocery, a social impact shop selling discounted food and nonfood items to people on a low income.
Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city, has long been plagued by cycles of hardship, including violent conflict. Adding to that, Lebanon's economic and political crisis and the Covid-19 outbreak have worsened the situation drastically, with soaring unemployment and inflation making the situation desperate for many. In April 2019 Human Rights Watch warned that more than half of the population in Lebanon will risk going hungry and since then, the situation has gotten worse.
To help families to meet their basic food needs we at SHiFT are now doing everything we can to support a new social initiative called the Social Grocery. The Social Grocery is a non-profit store that sells essential food and non-food goods - the first of its kind in all of Lebanon! It targets poor families who cannot afford to buy essential food and non-food items from commercials stores. The store sells products which prices are aggressively reduced to people on low income.
With the help of Social Grocery families can still go buy their own groceries without having to rely on humanitarian aid that in the long term could negatively affect their sense of dignity. Also, the Social Grocery is here to stay. Unlike traditional food aid, the Social Grocery is creating partnerships with a variety of suppliers, allowing the social enterprise to become sustainable and serve families in need in the long term. The store aims to also expand its reach and open additional stores.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
