By Samar Khouri
• MEDIA COVERAGE •
Arab Music Stars Unite In Dubai To Raise Money For Children’s Cancer Care In Lebanon The star-studded gala event featured performances from Mohamed Ramadan and Issam Alnajjar, among others, with a live celebrity auction making $177,000 in total across 10 lots.
The pandemic may have overshadowed live events for a while, but it hasn’t dented charitable giving from celebrities, world leaders, public figures, and philanthropists. As the world opens up, high-profile charity events are again taking to the stage to promote change and encourage donations. For example, the 24-hour round-the-world Global Citizen Live event in September 2021 united some of the biggest names in music to raise awareness about major global challenges, such as climate change, famine, and vaccine inequality. And two months later, on November 4, the Coca- Cola Arena in Dubai hosted a charity gala for the Children’s Cancer Center of Lebanon (CCCL), seeded with a cohort of 900 Arab and international A-listers gathered to raise funds to help provide access to quality cancer treatment. Supported by the International Humanitarian City, the exclusive, star-studded CCL event—which had previously been postponed twice due to the pandemic—was backed by its ambassador, former beauty queen Rima Fakih. “[I’m] so happy this gala was a great success as it helped raise awareness and generous donations for children with cancer,” says Fakih. The gala also featured a charity auction, auctioning off 10 lots, from a custom-made Dolce & Gabbana fuchsia leopard print satin down puffer jacket F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M
worn by Doja Cat, to the guitar featured in Forbes Middle East 30 Under 30 Alnajjar’s hit “Hadal Ahbek” music video and exclusive and limited edition 2020 super bowl jacket autographed by The Weeknd. The auction generated around $177,000 in total, and the funds raised in this year’s event exceeded any funds raised so far by any of CCCL’s events in one night. “I See the Dream” painting that appeared in Massari and Ali Gatie’s video clip fetched for around $32,000 – the highest bid at the event. Fakih is no stranger to making a change on her own terms. She made history in 2010 by becoming the first Arab-American woman to be crowned Miss USA. For the last decade, she has been using her success to empower Arab women as well as shine an international spotlight on crisishit Lebanon and the cancer center. “My involvement with the center goes back to 2012 but I’m particularly blessed to have been there the past two years amid all the chaos caused by the pandemic,” she says. “Cancer doesn’t discriminate, and neither does the CCCL.” Inaugurated in April 2002, CCL offers cancer treatment to children from Lebanon and the wider region. Its latest charity event came amid a ramped-up events schedule in the U.A.E., hot on the heels of the opening of Expo 2020 Dubai. It is part of a string of philanthropic initiatives initiated by JANUARY 2022
IMAGE BY ZOBIAN SAAD
MEDIA COVERAGE
74
