MAINTAINING THE BALANCE

Since its inception almost seven years ago, The Foundation of Goodness has been involved in the regular distribution of essential school items to deserving children in the Seenigama area. In fact, on that fateful day on the 26th of December 2004, one hundred children were seated and awaiting their school packs. Fortunately, all but one child escaped the fatal waves, together with Kushil and the other organizers present.

On Saturday 4th February 2006, the Foundation, together with the support of generous donors, distributed 487 essential school kits to needy children in Seenigama and neighbouring villages. The program was held in two sessions, one in the morning and the second in the afternoon. The venue for the event was the newly completed AVIVA Community Centre at WNS/AVIVA village.

The Foundation maintains a register of children who have requested assistance with the purchase of essential school kits and it is from this list that 888 kids were chosen to receive their packs on December 26th 2005. Similarly, another 487 recipients were chosen for the program on the 4th February. Recipients are selected with great care; the more needy and deserving children being the greatest priority.

It is also noteworthy to mention that 90 percent of the recipients were not tsunami-affected children but from extremely poor and deserving families. This is in keeping with the Foundations' new objective of "balancing the generosity" and reaching out to those who have not had the benefit of Tsunami aid reach them.

The essential school kit consists of stationery items, pens, pencils, erasers, a pencil box, a drawing book, coloured markers, water colour paints, mathematical instrument kits, a lunch box, a water bottle, a pair of school shoes, a pair of socks, a uniform and a school bag. There is a considerable amount of preparation that goes into these events, since it is critical that we obtain the correct shoe and uniform sizes for each child. Every bag is therefore customized to each individual child which can be a very time-consuming process. The Foundation of Goodness team in Seenigama worked relentlessly to ensure that each bag was packed correctly. Refreshments were also organized for all the children in both sessions.

The morning program was attended to by our local donors, the Rotary Club of Re-Connections, the Lions Club of Colombo Millenium, the Rotary Club of Colombo North and Mr. Vijaya Malalasekerera. After the lighting of the traditional oil lamps, a series of speeches followed from Founder, Kushil Gunasekera, Mr. Vijaya Malalasekera and from the Principle of the Thotagamuwa Maha Vidyalaya school. All of the speeches, which were directed at the recipients and the parents present, implored the recipients to make best use of their donations by continually striving towards self-development and improvement.

A similar session in the afternoon saw the provision of school packs sponsored by foreign donors, Rochelle Witharana & friends from the United States, Janaka Weerasinghe and friends from Canada and Sasha and friends from France. Whilst we are extremely grateful to all our donors for their wonderful generosity, we believe that special mention should be made of Sasha's contribution, since he too is a young schoolboy whom, together with his friends, raised enough money for 8 essential school packs. Children assisting other children in need - a beautiful and truly moving concept indeed.

The Foundation remains committed to continue such programs in the future and would like to take this opportunity to thank all our donors and well-wishers who contributed towards making a striking difference to the lives of 487 children.