Happiness Heros
Following the resounding success of Happiness Heroes 2011 and 2012, Bel Group Near and Middle East -represented by Picon, and in collaboration with the local NGO arcenciel, proudly launched the 2013 Happiness Heroes Program on November 30th at the Habtoor Hilton Hotel. This unique endeavor has empowered Lebanon’s youth, channeling their energy into making their country a better place through the four pillars of the Program: solidarity, health, citizenship, and environment.
Present at the press conference were the four ambassadors endorsing the missions: Mr. Ziad Baroud as citizenship ambassador; Mrs. May Khalil as solidarity smbassador; Mrs. Rose-Marie Boulous as health ambassador; and Mr. Maxime Chaya as environment ambassador. In a show of support, the Ministry of Education was also present at the conference for a second year, minister H.E Hassan Diab was represented by Dr. Vera Zaytoune, president of education in Mont Lebanon.
Yet it was the children who took the spotlight at the conference, as five of the young heroes of 2012 addressed the attendees, and excitedly demonstrated their accomplishments through the Happiness Heroes Program. They have much to be proud of: they planted 250 trees for the pillar of environment, collected over 5.4 million bottle caps, and gathered hundreds of kilos of paper for recycling. On a social level, the Happiness Heroes assisted over 158 lower-income families through clothing and food drives, provided entertainment for 2000 senior citizens, and organized a sporting event for individuals with special needs, they also renovated 15 schools in low-income areas. 40 sessions were developed to raise awareness on both children’s rights and road safety, not to mention proper nutrition and physical education.
Garo Matossian, Levant General Manager at Bel Group Near and Middle East, was effusive in his compliments of this groundbreaking initiative: “Who better to share the experience of being a Happiness Hero than the Happiness Heroes themselves?” He went on to say: “By choosing the children as the spokespeople at this conference, we gave them the opportunity to showcase their talents as social activists, and granted them the chance to speak their minds”.
Dr. Vera stated that the ministry of education was similarly impressed by the triumphs of the Happiness Heroes program; “Over the past two years, the work of these young heroes from over 40 schools has proven the importance of this initiative. Accordingly, the Ministry of Education has already begun integrating educational missions inspired by the Happiness Heroes program into our schools’ curriculum. Through arcenciel and Picon's initiative, we hope to increase engagement and awareness regarding social responsibility not just for nature or our fellow citizens, but for the country as a whole”.
Seeing the great work of these heroes, and already feeling the massive potential of the 2013 edition of the Happiness Heroes program, one can only tip the hat and cheer as these young heroes of Lebanon change our world for the better.