BATON ROUGE – St. Charbel Maronite Catholic Church held its 2nd Annual Lebanon Festival at the Goodwood Library.
The purpose of the event was to raise funds not only for the church, but also to spread awareness and support those affected by the ongoing war in Lebanon.
While last year’s event raised money for the church and St. Jude, this year’s fundraiser had a different purpose.
“There is a war going on in Lebanon and there are many missing people, civilians who have had to leave their homes. So a lot of our proceeds will go to Caritas, a Catholic charity in Lebanon.” said festival director Sunny Jean. Said.
At each stand you can find different ways to help the Lebanese people.
“I work at a breast cancer awareness booth in Lebanon for breast cancer patients in Lebanon. We help them pay for their treatment with chemotherapy and radiation, and these donations really help them.” said seller Jezebel Roman.
The remaining proceeds will be used to fund the church and its events.
The festival serves as an introduction to Lebanese culture for many and a celebration of the Maronite church.
“They’ve been Maronites and Lebanese in Louisiana for 150 years because of the port of New Orleans. They started as a trading people,” said Father Alex Herb of St. Charbel.
This is a church with a long history.
“I have to explain to them that this is the Middle East and what it is, so they will think they are Christians there. And I said, “Yes, there are a lot of Christians there. We are Maronites,” Jean said. Said.
This year’s event drew even more people than last time. WBRZ spoke with some of the kids and they said they really enjoyed their time there.
“I honestly think it’s really great to be able to celebrate my culture with the people here,” festival attendee Anna Saab said.
