Beirut, 2019 – L’Oréal Levant just celebrated the 10th anniversary of Citizen Day, a global social engagement-volunteering day that the Group offers to all of its employees in more than 60 countries where it operates.
Every year for the past 10 years, L’Oréal employees have been dedicating an entire day of their work time to bringing their skills and energy to hundreds of social and environmental organisations.
On Friday 21 June, the L’Oréal Levant team united its force, energy and enthusiasm to illuminate the faces of 130 children of Friends of the Disabled Association (FDA), a local NGO who, since 1978, has been offering advocacy and rehabilitation services to children with intellectual disabilities. Hand in hand with the centre’s specialists, more than 150 employees took part in 10 different activities to brighten up the daily life of the NGO’s beneficiaries!
“Citizen Day has become a major moment in the Group’s calendar,” said Philippe Patsalides, Managing Director of L’Oréal Levant. “This day permit collaborators from L’Oréal Levant to offer 750 voluntary hours and I sincerely believe that participating in the well-being of the local community is a way to share our success.”
In order to appeal to children of all ages and interests, several activities were organized! While the little ones enjoyed face painting and music and recycling workshops, the older kids joined the employees in cooking lunch for everyone and packing gifts for the students and staff. Moreover, a group of adolescent participated alongside L’Oréal sports enthusiasts in a Basketball tournament.
As for the young girls at the NGO, they received a makeup, nail and hair makeover in a beauty salon put together for the occasion. Other kids and employees spent the day in arts & crafts workshops where they produced goods that will be then by the NGO.
Apart from the activities with the children, some employees painted the parking facade to create a more welcoming atmosphere at the premises while others planted several trees and plants that will, in the future, bear fruits and vegetables for the children.
“This day has been a unique and remarkable experience endowed with teamwork. It encourages us to further pursue our mission”, said Dr. Moussa Charafeddine, President of “Friends of the Disabled”. Our kids as well as the staff were very excited to take part L’Oréal’s Citizen Day and were overjoyed during the many amazing activities L’Oréal planned for them!”
Launched in 2010, this annual Citizen Day has permitted collaborators from almost 65 countries to offer more than 1 million hours to hundreds of NGOs and their beneficiaries. Every year, almost 30,000 volunteers mobilize themselves into varied initiatives proposed during this day.
A lunch has been organized to follow the activities in honor of L’Oréal’s employees to thank them for their participation and for their efforts and to incentivise them to pursue such initiatives!