Paynesville – A Charity organization, Shamel’s Place Incorporated has distributed assorted food items including rice, oil and cooking cube to several orphanages in Margibi and Montserrado Counties as these institutions observe Government’s lockdown order.
Report by Gerald C. Koinyeneh, [email protected]
Shamel’s Place Incorporated is a United States-Liberian-based charity foundation established in the United States by a group of Liberians to help underprivileged children in Liberia and other parts of the world.
Institutions that benefited from the gesture include Children Rescue Center Orphanage in Mount Barclay, Gateway to Life, Omega Community, Hope In Christ of Careysburg, Love A Child Orphanage and Phebe Gray Orphanage in Margibi County.
The items include several bags of rice, gallons of cooking oil and vita cube.
The organization, through its Representative in Liberia, Abdullah Keita, making the presentation on Saturday, April 18, said despite confronting the global pandemic themselves, the founder and president of Shamel’s Place, along with her team based in the United States are still thinking about ways to help the needy children back home.
He said the donation was the organization’s initial response to the orphanages as they observe the 60-day state of emergency imposed by the Government to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Liberia.
“This may not be much but it tells that somebody somewhere loves you and is thinking about you,” Keita told a group of children who had gathered to receive their items at the Love A Child Orphanage.
Meanwhile, the heads of the institutions, in separate remarks, thanked Shamel’s Place for the ‘timely intervention’ and called on other humanitarian organizations to follow its footstep.
Mother Rose Mason of the Phebe Gray Orphanage in Margibi County thanked Shamel’s Place for being the first charity organization to identify with her institution.
“Since this crisis, it is the first time for people to knock on our doors to help us. We are very grateful to Shamel’s Place for coming again to identify with the children,” Mother Mason lauded.
“We are also appealing to the Government because these children are the government’s children. We want them to help us with soap, sanitizer, and food. Whoever is listening to us, we want you to come to our aid.”
Harris Korboi of the Gateway to Life in Omega Community said the gesture was timely as the items will be a huge help to the children as they observe the Government’s lockdown.
“Actually it has not been easy, especially in these difficult times. The provision came on time and we want to tell Shamel’s place thank you in our own Liberian way,” Korboi said.
At the Children Rescue Center Orphanage in Mount Barclay, the Director, Alexander Clarke said it takes a person with a ‘big heart’ to do what Shamel’s place has done.
“We say thank you to Shamel’s Place. It’s not common to see people doing what they did. To put aside your problems and think about others, then you must have a big heart. And that’s what they have.”
It can be recalled that Shamel’s Place in December 2019 distributed dozens of toys to over 500 children at these institutions.
The organization is headed by Astan Eyah Kolleh as founder and president.
Shamel’s Place Incorporated, Mrs. Said Kolleh, was established in memory of her late son, little Samuel Shamel Adama Kolleh, who died from multiple heart diseases just six weeks after his birth in the United States.
“After that [death of her son], I got a vision on how I can make his name live on and through that we birthed this foundation. His name was Samuel Shamel Adama Kolleh, we used his Shamel’s name and created Shamel’s Place Incorporated. And we decided that we will serve orphans because they are underserved and underprivileged,” she explained back then in December 2019 during her trip to Liberia.