DEARBORN —  A woman from Dearborn has started her own initiative to donate goods to Lebanon as Israeli strikes continue to hit parts of the country, displacing and killings thousands.

Suzana Hassan, a mother of three, felt compelled and inspired to help after she learned that her entire family in Lebanon was displaced. Through donations she began collecting items such as used clothes, used shoes, diapers, baby formula and other essential items needed. Her mom, who is in Lebanon, was displaced from her home. Due to the unpredictability of the strikes, she rushed to flee, only managing to grab one outfit.

Hailing from the Southern Lebanon village of Al-Khiam, Hassan immigrated to the United States 26 years ago at 17-years-old.

She told The Arab American News that her family’s homes in Lebanon were completely destroyed. She is in constant contact with her family to monitor their situation and safety, and shared that she often hears the bombs detonate in the background while on the phone with them.

“When my mom escaped the bombs, I made her stay at my house, at a different region, close to Beirut,” Hassan said. “And then I’m talking to my mom every day on FaceTime, on WhatsApp video and I see her in her prayer uniform and I say ‘mom, what are you doing? Every time I FaceTime you, you are in your prayer uniform.’ then she said ‘no, I’m waiting for my dress to be dry.’ Because she washed it. So she waits because she doesn’t have clothes; they ran away without anything.

“So I said to myself, if this is happening to my mom, what about the others? What about the children?”

She shared that her family, including her mom, wasn’t living under poor conditions in Lebanon, but they had to escape the horrific reality quickly, leaving essential items behind.

“Imagine the others,” she said, describing the severity of the situation. “People left barefoot. They escaped barefoot.”

Driven by the desire to make a meaningful impact, Hassan chose to collect items that are scarce in parts of Lebanon rather than collect money donations. She was determined to find a way to contribute, but needed a designated space to bring her vision to life. She is the general manager and supervisor of an auto parts company in Detroit owned by Haider Hasan. She asked Hasan if she could use any of his available facility space to store the donated items. He then provided her the space to use, helped her with donations, arranged containers for the collected items and had his employees assist her as well.

She created a flyer informing people that she is collecting used clothes and shoes, baby formula, diapers and any other essential items for those who are willing to donate. She sent it out to friends, family members and community members in early October and quickly received positive feedback as people expressed their own desire to help. She said that within one day she already had a vast amount of donations, and by the end of the following week the boxes overflowed with items. They were able to send out their first shipment seven days later. The shipment is being exported via ship and takes roughly 50 days to arrive.

Initially Hassan said she and her friends were going door to door to pick up donations, but now the space is a drop-off location where individuals can bring their donated items.

The items are being sent to the nonprofit organization Dalia Wel Teghyeer, run by Dalia Karim, who is on the ground in Lebanon and will distribute the items accordingly once they arrive.

Donations collected by Suzana Hassan at the space provided by Haider Hasan. Photos: Suzana Hassan

Much of Hassan’s free time has been dedicated to organizing and gathering items, in addition to her long work weeks and current pursuit of a nursing degree. She said she works 52 hours a week, and is now spending late nights leading this donation project. Inspired by her three children, all pursuing degrees in the medical field — her eldest daughter, Zienab, is preparing to start medical school soon — she decided to earn her own nursing degree.

She is currently collecting donations for the second shipment, which will be exported as soon as they gather enough items. Items can be dropped off at 9101 Freeland St. Detroit, MI 48228. She shared pride for her efforts and extended deep gratitude for her children, family and friends who have made contributions and given their own time to help her with this charitable work to help the people of Lebanon.

“I want people to be warm; I want children to be warm,” she said. “This is the least I can do. Any person in Lebanon is part of my family.  Even though I am an Arab American, our hearts are back home.”