Essential School Pack Deliveries for the 2015 School Year
Since the Foundation of Goodness came to be in 1999, one of our favourite and most long running programmes which, at 15 years is as old as the organization itself, is the Essential School Supply Packs (ESSP) Programme which has continued to grow every year. This year, we have been able to deliver 3,136 school packs ahead of the 2015 school year, which brings the total number of school packs delivered by us over the years to 22,086.
During the early days, the ESSP programme presented essential school gear to children from the Seenigama region, but over the years, these deliveries have spread out across the island, reaching the North, South, East, West and Central areas of Sri Lanka, especially with FoG establishing a new Village Heartbeat Centre in Moneragala, in the Uva Province (situated in Sri Lanka’s southeast) earlier in 2014.
We had special help with our campaign this year with our celebrity trustees Muthiah Muralidaran and Mahela Jayawardena campaigning to raise funds and Children Action coming on board with the FoG to sponsor 500 schools packs. George Hettiarachchi and Friends, Shaktha Amaratunga, Sapan Nainani and Hyleys Tea, Pradeep Karunagaran, Dr. Naj Nagendran and the Sri Lanka Golf Association of California and Suvin Wettimuny were amongst the significant donors who donated over 100 packs each, not forgetting all of our other donors because every single donation helped us in making up the final count of 3,136 school packs.
Reflecting our dedication towards tailoring our school packs to meet the exact needs of the children receiving them, this year our packs diversified even further, with the introduction of a third type of special pack for the youngest students receiving their supplies. The types of schools packs we deliver now include the following items:
Grade 1 01 School Bag (Small) Grades 2-5 01 School Bag (Large) Grades 6-12 01 School Bag (Large) This year, the school pack deliveries were made to the following areas- North: Kilinochchi Schools- 175 packs South: Selected Schools from the Southern Region- 439 East: Ampara- 342 packs West: Borella- 27 Central Province: Bogawanthalawa- 105 Moneragala VHP Children’s Goodness Club- 130
The Foundation of Goodness wishes to express its most heartfelt gratitude to each and every one who contributed towards this noble endeavor, you helped to bring smiles of absolute joy to the faces of countless young children who will now be excited to begin their new school year with their brand new gear, and study hard in order to break out of the cycle of poverty they are currently trapped in. Many of these children were in grave danger of dropping out of school for the lack of a school uniform or pair of shoes, and it would have been very difficult for them to succeed at their education without a pen to take down notes with, or a book to write it down on. What you have given this children is an incredible gift- hope for a brighter future and a better chance at achieving their dreams!
A child without education, is like a bird without wings.
13th January 2015 
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