With the annual Yarona FM FatBoy Challenge 2011 in its 6th week, The Yarona FM crew last Sunday donated proceeds from the 2010 Fat Boy Challenge to Gamodubu Child Care Trust, which is situated along the Molepolole road, just past Metsimotlhabe.
Founded in 2005, the centre now feeds over 135 children daily.
The crew handed over food supplies, toiletry as well as garden tools and seeds.
The daily needs of a person were taken into consideration when the supplies were purchased. The initial idea to plant a vegetable garden was trumped by the fact that the Orphanage had already started a garden prior to the donation.
The seeds were donated in order for the garden to have a variety of vegetables and fruits.
During the donation, the caretaker of the shelter, Shirley Madikwe, told of how the village of Gamodubu as a whole is faced with extreme poverty but with children who are on ARV treatment coming to the shelter so that they could at least have a meal a day even when they don’t live at the shelter. She said that the children at the shelter live with extreme emotional baggage and pain as some come from broken homes; some have been abandoned by their parents.
Some are orphans and the girl child is faced with sexual abuse.
Madikwe said that she hoped that the private sector steals a page from Yarona FM’s book in making the Youth stand up and fight poverty and support society as a whole.
The Yarona FM station Manager, Owen Rampha, said that the participants of the Yarona FM Fatboy Challenge should be given accolades for their sweat and tears whilst doing the challenge because they are the reason the donation was possible.
In addition to the donation, the Yarona FM crew took time to have one on one talk sessions with the orphans to find out about their interests and issues that are close to their hearts.
The public is encouraged to take a step towards actively supporting the initiative by pledging so that more donations, such as these, can be made available.
