Jisr el Bacha - Beirut, 01 March 2022 
We also visited this organization last summer, and asked if the Veterans Foundation for Lebanon can do something for them.
Bkennaya - Beirut, 26 February 2022
Last summer in August we as the VVL Foundation visited this organization.
Bauchrieh - Beirut, 23 February 2022
The container with relief goods that we sent in November 2021 containing, among other things, the computer hardware has been released by customs in Beirut.
Schalkhaar, 26 January 2022 update 27 February 2022
In search of memories, culture and certainly also good food.
Eitat Bekaa Lebanon, 22 January 2022
The public hospital in Eitat Bekaa Lebanon called Containers of Love for help.
Deventer, 22 January 2022
We were approached by Colmschate Ukraine Contact if we could use computers for our school project.
Rotterdam, 27 November 2021
Today, the container, which we loaded on 12 November, will be loaded in Rotterdam on the more than 120-metre-long container ship Tokyo Bay.
Deventer, 12 November 2021
On 23-7 and 15-10 we collected, at the request of contacts via Facebook, many prostheses, many crutches, a number of operating tables, various accessories, tools and about 2000 kg of feed (in bags).
Utrecht, Deventer and Hoogezand, 5 November 2021 
Today Fred, Bart, Bert and I collected the hardware in Deventer to be able to load into the container next week.
Germany, 15 October 2021 
Upon arrival (15-10) at the first charging point we (Fred and Bert) thought to load 4 more operating tables,
About Veterans for Lebanon
Background
From 1979 to 1985, almost 9,000 Dutchmen, mostly conscripts, contributed to the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in southern Lebanon. Now more than 41 years later, this peacekeeping force is still present on the border of Lebanon and Israel.
It is in 2018 when Bert Kleine Schaars organizes a first trip with former Dutch Unifil soldiers. This is possible with the cooperation of, among others, Minister Bijleveld and the airline Transavia, which has just started direct flights from Amsterdam / Beirut.
The second trip with several veterans and their wives or children is in March 2020. It is another great trip through a country that has great poverty and unfortunately also has few options of its own. Only recently have gas and oil fields been found off the coast. In fact, the country is completely dependent on food imports.
Due to the global crises, the country is in bad shape if the Corona strikes there too in March. Medical facilities are coming under even more pressure.
From this group, the idea quickly arises of how help can still be provided and what would be the best way to organize it. If the group in the Netherlands in the Lock down is still working on that thought, something will happen on August 4 that will change everything in that country and in Beirut.
On August 4, 2020, an unprecedentedly heavy explosion destroyed a large part of the Lebanese capital within seconds. The damage is enormous, the human suffering hard to comprehend.
The sad balance: 200 dead, 6,000 injured, 300,000 homeless!
Background and establishment of the foundation
The explosion of August 4, 2020 in Beirut is the direct reason for the establishment of the VVL foundation, veterans for Lebanon.
August 12, 2020
At the initiative of Bert Kleine Schaars, the campaign 'Veterans help Beirut' is being set up together with the Veterans Institute and the Foundation for the Support of Veterans Activities (OVA).
August 14, 2020
Bert Kleine Schaars is a guest in the TV program Een Today, where he gets the opportunity to draw attention to the action.
September 22, 2020
Intermediate position of the aid campaign: more than € 20,000.
September 29, 2020
Establishment of the 'Foundation VVL, veterans for lebanon'.
Board members of the foundation
- Bert Kleine Schaars
- Jeannet Kleine Schaars
- Fred van der Ploeg
- Janos Loczi
- Siem Kersten
Objective of the foundation
- Promoting the friendships of the Dutch with Lebanon and Lebanese;
- Promoting knowledge of the archaeological riches of Lebanon in the Netherlands;
- Promote Lebanon as a country and travel destination;
- Supporting the preparation and guidance of UNIFIL veterans on return trips;
- Supporting targeted aid actions to offer support and/or relief goods for or in Lebanon.
In collaboration with Containers of Love, we as a foundation are still committed to sending relief supplies to Beirut with the help of our sponsors. Every transport means a lot of arrangements and, in addition to careful planning, requires targeted supervision of the execution. Because we want to be sure that the containers not only arrive, but also that all relief supplies on site find their way to the planned final destination as quickly as possible. Given the current circumstances in Lebanon, this is a challenging operation.
Several dozen containers have now been successfully shipped. But many more transports will be needed. This is not possible without financial and material support. In that regard, we would like to make an urgent appeal to you and to companies that want to contribute to the reconstruction of the city of Beirut and to that beautiful country full of potential, which Lebanon was and is!
Help is urgently needed! On behalf of the people of Lebanon: THANK YOU!
See also our weblog above for the current state of affairs.