To relieve the suffering of families affected by the summer 2006 war in Lebanon, JMP–L provided emergency relief assistance worth $55,000, allocated by the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) and the JMP U.S. Advisory Committee (USAC), to more than 1,370 people.
Specifically, 487 chronically sick individuals received medications from the JMP–L Medication Dispensing Department, 58 people benefited from medical assistance, and 294 people were offered cash assistance. In addition, around 130 displaced families received material assistance from JMP–L (mainly new underwear for males and females of all ages).
Monthly food coupons were also provided to 538 families for three months. The coupons were for the purchase of groceries from a specified cooperative/supermarket and excluded the purchase of alcoholic beverages and cigarettes.
According to JMP–L Director Seta Pamboukian, “the most significant advantage of this kind of assistance was the fact that people received whatever clothing and groceries they needed and whatever prescribed medications they needed.”
She explained that “usually relief assistance comes in the form of parcels or medication that people do not necessarily need or use,” adding that “the significance of this approach was that the dignity of people was respected in the way that the assistance was given.”
She added: “For the staff, it gave us satisfaction that the assistance was given in the spirit of Christian solidarity, and not in parcels on which political slogans were written.”
Source: www.pcusa.org
Important note: In some of the stories, the names of beneficiaries have not been used or have been changed for the sake of privacy orconfidentiality.