Members of the Correspondents Chapel, a body of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Plateau State Council has donated relief materials including food items to two orphanages in Jos on Wednesday.
Chairman of the Chapel, Mr. Yusuf Idegu, who led the NUJ members to the orphanages, thanked the directors of the homes for offering selfless services to the society.
Idegu said that it was a noble cause what the homes were doing to accommodate orphans and the less privileged in the state.
He also called on other journalists and the general public to lend helping hands to the home by visiting and making donations.
“We are very thankful to you for taking up this enormous task of rendering help to orphans and the less privileged by providing them with shelter, education, feeding and giving them a better life.
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“It is indeed a noble cause; it is not easy to do this without funding by government and other bodies.
“It is not easy to take care of these kids without help, that is why as a chapel, we took it upon ourselves to give out support in the little way we can hope that others will join, we will continue to render help to as many homes that we can,” he said.
Receiving the materials, Mr. Abel Mala, Director, Privileged Abode for Care of Orphans and Widows, Jos, thanked the chapel for the gesture describing it as `thoughtful and timely’.
Mala said that the orphanage which cares for over 120 children and teenagers lacked the necessary resources to run the home effectively.
He said that the children in the home were mostly from crisis torn areas in the state orphaned as a result of their parents being killed while others were from widows who cannot care for them.
He added that the home had a primary and secondary school which provided education from primary one to three and JSS1 to SS1 respectively, while others attend other classes in private schools outside the home.
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“I want to thank you for this very thoughtful and timely gesture, as a home, we are not finding it easy caring for these kids as we have over 120 of them here of different ages.
“Most of the kids here were orphaned by the lingering crisis we have in the villages in the state, some are from impoverished widows who cannot take care of their wards.
“We are thankful that we are able to help the little number that we can, so many are out there with no help or education, we have a school here where we teach them at different stages.
“Our school does not provide for all the classes so we send some of them to private schools outside and pay for them, we need help, I am calling on people in and outside Plateau state to come to our aid,” he pleaded.
Mrs. Gloria Ajaezu, Manager of the Grace Garden of Hope Initiative, an NGO, while receiving the donation, also applauded the chapel for the gesture.
She said the donations would go a long way in helping the children.
Ajaezu said that the home which had been running for over 10 years cared for over 30 children and adults whom were gotten in different circumstances.
She also called on individuals and other bodies to render help to the children as it would go a long way in their care and also open doors for more kids to be admitted into the home. (NAN)
