CMF donates over Rs. 750,000 to children of Mannar, A'pura and the south

The Country Music Foundation (CMF) recently donated a sum of over Rs 750,000 to needy children in Mannar, Anuradhapura and the south through projects arranged by Save the Children of Sri Lanka (SCiSL) and Chrysalis, the association of former UNICEF staffers.

The contribution was the total proceeds raised from the popular Country Road 2007 concert. The 15th annual concert on March 15 at the Mount Lavinia Hotel featured German, British and Sri Lankan musicians, the CMF said in a statement. Sponsors of the event included SLT-Mobitel, SriLankan Airlines, The Sunday Times, the Mount Lavinia Hotel among others.

The organization which has raised millions of rupees in cash and kind over the past 20 years for children, last month signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SCiSL and two of its partner organisations in Mannar and Anuradhapura providing Rs 502,250.

At the same simple ceremony at the SCiSL office in Colombo, the CMF also handed over a donation of Rs 250,000 to Chrysalis to support a home for over 100 destitute children in Hikkaduwa - making it a total of Rs 752,250 provided for CMF's 2007 charity projects.

Under the MoU, the Socio Protection & Environs Care Consociation (SPECC) of Mannar has begun awareness programmes on child rights and child protection, a shramadana campaign at the District Hospital in Murunkan, supplying school material for 40 needy children who are irregularly attending school and launching a 2-day leadership programme for 50 children.

The programme with the Institute of Rural Social Development (IRSD) in Anuradhapura involves awareness programmes on child rights, a medical clinic for parents and children, a new library and education material for 15 school dropouts.

Both NGOs are separately undertaking a 2-day sharing of experience camp for 120 children from Mannar and Anuradhapura, in their respective regions as part of the programme under the CMF-sponsored funds. The two projects willrun for four months from June to September 2007 and are monitored by SCiSL. The MoU was signed by Feizal Samath, CMF President, Richard Mawer, Country Director -SCiSL and representatives of SPECC and IRSD.