Anwar Aboul Hosn (also spelled Abou El Hosn, Abouelhosn, or Aboul Hossen) came to Seattle in 1973 and purchased the Ali Baba restaurant at 707 East Pine Street in 1977. On New Year’s Day 1978, Anwar Aboul Hosn donated 100% of the proceeds from his restaurant that day to help fellow Lebanese people left homeless by the two-year-old Lebanese civil war. “The first day of the year I work for free,” he said, covering all operating expenses out of his own pocket. Aboul Hosn got help from his wife, 3 brothers, 3 daughters, a son, 3 nephews and a niece, who all lived in Seattle.

Here, Anwar Aboul Hosn displays a tray of baklava, a Middle Eastern pastry, one of many dishes available for purchase at Ali Baba on New Year’s Day.

Caption information source: "A Day of Giving" by Neil Modie, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 30, 1977, p. 1.