THE National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has donated relief materials to the orphanage in Uwanse, Calabar South Local Government Area of Cross River.
The state Coordinator of NYSC, Mr Eddy Megwa, disclosed this on Friday in Calabar while speaking on the 46th anniversary of the corp.
Megwa explained that the NYSC in the state decided to celebrate with the orphanage to commemorate the anniversary.
“Owing to the security concerns in the nation, we decided to have a solemn celebration by bringing Corp members to the orphanage to identify with their host community.
“While most of the Corp members present at the occasion had parents they could always rely on, the children at the orphanage had neither mothers nor fathers and so should be treated with utmost kindness and love.
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“Irrespective of what goes on in the NYSC in Cross River, we would always identify with the orphanage. However, the orphanage should endeavour to always invite the Corp to partner with them whenever they have an event.”
The coordinator also ordered that for every successive year, three Corp members should be posted to serve in the orphanage while the NYSC Secretariat in the state would pay them.
“The Corp members are carrying out one year of selfless service to the nation; that is why they have come selflessly to make this donation.
“It is our humble contribution to ensure that the children in this orphanage wake up in the morning to find something to eat instead of partying with the little resources we have.
“It is our prayer that the management of this orphanage makes judicious use of the items presented to nurture the children here the way God wants them to be nurtured,” he said.
Responding, the Chief Nursing Officer of the orphanage, Mrs Sylvia Ojong, who received the items on behalf of the home, thanked the management of the NYSC for the assistance.
Ojong, who represented the Principal Social Welfare Officer of the orphanage, Mrs Felicia Oti, promised to use the materials judiciously in ensuring that the children had more than enough.
She prayed for God’s protection for the management and staff of the NYSC and the Corp members, assuring that they will continue to nurture the children in the home to give them a bright future.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some of the items presented to the orphanage included bags of rice, noodles, biscuits and toilet papers.