Global style brand Dickies® donates shoes to Beirut children

The 4 August 2020 explosions in the Port of Beirut killed more than 200 people, including at least six children, and injured more than 6,500, including 1,000 children. The lives of 100,000 of the city’s children were turned upside down overnight.

Many families and children lost everything due to the devastating Beirut explosions. To help, Dickies® - the world’s leading performance workwear brand - in partnership with its parent company, VF Corporation, donated 48,000 pairs of Dickies® shoes to the affected communities.

“I still can’t forget the sound that I heard at 6 pm”, recalls 13-year-old Limona.

“My dad stopped work for more than three months,” says 16-year-old Aya, “and our lives changed dramatically”.

In collaboration with UNICEF implementing partners Anera, Hoops, and Mouvement Social and the youth volunteers in these NGOs, UNICEF distributed shoes donated by the VF Corporation’s Dickies® brand to children and families affected in Beirut.

The VF Corporation places people at the heart of its corporate ethos.

“Our purpose fuels our movements. Our movements drive our actions. Our actions change the world,” says Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Rendle.

Amal Obeid, UNICEF Lebanon’s Adolescents and Youth Development Specialist, says, “After the Beirut explosions, many generous donors offered help and support to families affected by the blast. One of them was VF Corporation, with a donation of 48,000 pairs of shoes.

“Through initiatives such as this, UNICEF continues to lead the support for the children and youth of Lebanon”.

Since the port explosions and throughout the continuing economic and social crisis, UNICEF has helped get children back to school, distributed essential nutrition and hygiene supplies, delivered psychosocial support, provided cash grants to the most vulnerable families, and supported the rehabilitation of health care facilities, schools and water supply services.