The Georges N. Frem Foundation (GNFF) celebrated its 25th Anniversary. The commemorative event brought together friends of the Foundation, its international and local partners, and diplomatic representatives in Lebanon.
The Foundation welcomed their guests in Wahat Al-Oukhoua, in Ghosta-Keserwan. Guests were given an overview of the Foundation’s achievements spanning the last 25 years, through animated displays and a short movie, followed by speeches from Rania Frem El-Khoury, the Executive Director of the Foundation and MP Neemat Frem, the Chairman and CEO of INDEVCO Group and the general secretary of the Board of Georges N. Frem Foundation.
The Lebanese heritage themed dinner event was an opportunity to show appreciation for all those who collaborated with the Foundation in the last 25 years. It was also aimed at showing the Foundation’s unwavering support for Lebanon and instilling confidence among stakeholders and friends of the Foundation as Lebanon continues to face its most challenging economic crisis in recent history.
“Georges N. Frem Foundation feels a sense of increased responsibility towards Lebanon and the Lebanese,” said Rania Frem El-Khoury in her welcoming speech. “We are more than ever convinced that Lebanon needs a concerted response, it needs all key stakeholders, public and private, to partner together to address the overwhelming needs of its people, even the most basic ones.”
MP Neemat Frem, declared: “Georges N. Frem Foundation has always conveyed a message of hope to continue and a motivation to build a bright future. Today, it renews this vow of commitment towards this mission and vision of a better society.
Throughout 25 years, it has worked silently and today, a small part of the many accomplishments that the Foundation and its partners are doing, emerge to the surface.”
Achievements at a Glance
The Foundation’s work is primarily focused on two pillars of Lebanon’s society and economy: Education and Agriculture. In Education, GNFF assists over 4,000 students annually, from offering quality education to providing transportation to students living in rural areas. It has also put on 195 performances for over 500,000 viewers at THEATRE athénée Jounieh, its multi-purpose theatre that revolves around skills and talent development, knowledge sharing and awareness and entertainment for the whole family.
In agriculture, GNFF assists over 10,000 farmers, in the fruit and vegetable sectors. Early on, the Foundation revitalized the apple, pear, cherry and plum sectors in Lebanon by modernizing fruit orchards, planting nationwide 620,000 modern rootstock to replace old seedling based fruit trees. In doing so, GNFF developed its own nursery meticulously grafting rootstock with different fruit varieties before distributing 590,000 trees to farmers. Today, GNFF’s agricultural engineers continue to give extensive technical and marketing support to farmers, MSMEs, women cooperatives and all other key actors of the vegetable and fruit value chains. The Foundation’s training and coaching comprise of in-person visits and on line workshops.