The Sunday News
Loveness Mpofu, Sunday News Reporter
BULAWAYO Upcoming Traders Association on Thursday extended a helping hand to Queen Elizabeth Adventist Children’s Home in the city, by donating groceries worth more than $700.
Buta is an association for traders operating at Egodini Terminus. Buta secretary-general Mr Dumisani Ncube said as business people they saw the need to put together the little they had to help the under-privileged in the community. He promised that they will continuously support the home in every way possible.
“When we first came here we saw that there are children, who were dumped in street alleys, while others’ parents are in prison. The Adventist Church took the first step by providing shelter for these children and now it is our job as businesspeople to help with other needs. We are, therefore, encouraging our members and other businesspeople to also follow suit and help these children,” he said.
The home is catering for 32 children with the youngest being a toddler. The director of the home, Mrs Ellen Mfumu, expressed gratitude at the kind gesture from the association.
“We are very humbled by this donation because we know people are struggling to make ends meet and normally when they struggle they try to meet the needs of their families, but they have gone an extra mile to make sure that the children in this orphanage can also live a normal life. We need good food for the children and if the community does not help us, then we really struggle. So this donation has come right on time and we are so thankful,” she said.
“Our biggest challenge is that we want these children to live in family units, but we have no resources. We have acquired land at West Acre to build family units, where we can have children living as families opposed to living in a hostel. We are appealing to donors, individuals and groups to help construct these units,” she said.-@lvydvy1
