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Created dateMar 06, 2009 Last editMar 09, 2009 at 11:39 AM
by Barbara Savory; Source: Communication Department, barbara_savory@yahoo.com
[News]
Love in a Shoe Box
Close to 7000 underprivileged children in Guyana will benefit from donations by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) International. A container of gifts for children in difficult circumstances living in Orphanages, Special Homes, and similar institutions in Guyana was received recently by the Guyana Office of ADRA. ADRA International is the development and relief arm of the Seventh-day Adventist church. The entity ministers to the humanitarian need of millions around the world through offices located in more than 125 countries.
A special launching ceremony was conducted on Friday, February 27, 2009at the headquarters of the Guyana Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Mr. Trevor Thomas, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, was in attendance. He was accompanied by Ms. Leota Langford, Senior Probation and Social Service Officer in charge of child protection. In delivering the feature address for the occasion, Mr. Thomas cited the Adventist church as one of the local bodies to ardently pursue the welfare of children and expressed his gratitude for such sustained interest.
The distribution of the shoe boxes will begin shortly. Those to benefit include the more than 600 children who have been placed in foster homes by the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security.
The gifts were specifically donated by ADRA/UK. Each year, that body identifies a developing country to benefit from a special Shoe Box Appeal which is staged in the UK. Through this drive, individuals donate unused items which are submitted in shoe boxes to the ADRA/UK Office. At the end of the Shoe Box Appeal Campaign, the donations received are shipped to the beneficiary country for distribution.
According to ADRA Guyana Country Director, Pastor Alexander Isaacs, the items received from ADRA/UK were pre-determined based on needs identified by the Guyana Office. A list of the special needs of the children residing in homes and orphanages around Guyana was compiled and submitted to ADRA/UK so that the donors could give according to these needs.
ADRA and the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Guyana are pleased to be able to render such assistance to the nation’s children as they seek to actualize ADRA’s Motto: “Changing the World, One Life at a Time”
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Human Services and Social
Security, Mr. Trevor Thomas, addressing gathering.
ADRA Guyana Director, Pastor Alexander Isaacs, displays some of the donations to Guyana
Conference President (top) and Ministry of Human Services and Social Security officials (bottom)
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