Rita believes that charity is about love and “For it is in giving that we receive” - St. Francis of Assisi. Despite being a recent Lebanese citizen in diaspora, Rita dedicated herself to the establishment of FLFS-USA. Rita Makhlouf Kanaan moved to New York in 2019 with her husband Khalil Kanaan and her two children Jean-Marc and Chloé. Prior to that, she occupied senior positions in corporate and private banking during her twenty years professional career in the banking industry in Lebanon. Most recently, she held the position of a Senior Manager and Head of Fiduciary at Saradar Bank. Rita is a member of the Order of Malta association and has been active in many humanitarian missions. Since 2020, she decided to devote her time for the help of the many in need in her home country, specifically by responding to the cry for help for the survival of the missions of the Lebanese Franciscan Sisters of the Cross.