I was with my wife in the mountains of Lebanon, 40 kilometers from Beirut, when the explosion happened. The moment we found out, we rushed to Mar Mikhael, the neighborhood adjacent to the Beirut Port. One of my family members had been injured in the blast, and when we arrived, she was still covered in glass. It left her cut and bruised, but thankfully that was the extent of her injuries. The rest of my family, friends, and the more than 60 McKinsey colleagues who were in Lebanon that day are all safe, but many were not as lucky.
The devastating August 4 explosion that killed hundreds and injured thousands punched a hole in the earth and our hearts. All of us, everyone in the country and in the Lebanese community around the world, have been impacted in some way. Anyone who was in Beirut at the time, no matter where they were, was shaken to their core. “We felt like the blast happened in our own homes and backyards,’’ said Sabine El Najjar, one colleague I spoke to.
Almost every firm member in the city—from senior partners to our newest colleagues—joined the effort.
As the firm mobilized support for the Lebanese Red Cross’s relief efforts, the dozens of us on the ground in Beirut quickly connected to figure out what we could do to help right away. We started at the individual level in our communities, working with our neighbors to clean streets or help survivors sift through shattered homes. Those who could supported medical relief efforts. All the while, our colleagues came together to figure out what we could do collectively to help. We decided to provide food to those whose kitchens and food supply had been destroyed.
Almost every firm member in the city—from senior partners to our newest colleagues—joined the effort. As a group, we sought to deliver 5,000 food boxes to 5,000 families in need. A friend offered his vacant house in Beirut, undamaged by the blast, to serve as a warehouse for the food supplies and a base for our operations, while another colleague deployed his father’s company vans to transport packages.
Rima Assi, a senior partner who grew up in Lebanon, brought her young son and daughter along to support our relief efforts. “Seeing our colleagues organize so quickly to help the people of Beirut was truly inspiring,” she said. “It was a very touching moment to see how much my son wanted to make sure that what we were preparing actually reached people in need. And when we arrived to deliver the packages, it was also a difficult moment to see families in despair, rally around our truck to get their share. But when I looked around and saw the number of volunteers helping, it really gave me hope and made me feel very proud.’’
Thus far, we have assembled and delivered 1,500 packages and are determined to continue until we reach our goal. We deeply appreciate the support of our colleagues, their friends and families, and of complete strangers too. As a Lebanese community, it was extremely heart-warming in a time of tragedy to see the way our firm and our colleagues around the globe also lent their support to the critical work of the Lebanese Red Cross through donations and individual contributions.
We recognize that delivering these care packages and our donations are just a small part of what’s needed to support the scale of this humanitarian crisis. Longer-term support will be necessary to help our beloved Beirut rise again. And we’re committed to doing whatever we can for that to happen.