A non-govermental organisation, The Children of Africa Leadership and Values Development Initiative (CALDEV) engaged in a charity walk on Saturday with the aim of gathering monetary support for Orphanages in the state.
The Non-profit Initiative was founded in 2015 by the current member of the National Assembly, representing Ede North,Ede South, Egbedore and Ejigbo Federal constituency of Osun state, Rep. Bamidele Salam.
While speaking during the charity walk on Saturday in Osogbo, Hon. Salam said the purpose behind the initiative is to raise advocacy and awareness for community members to support the vulnerable children and orphans.
He, also disclosed that over 300 children are going to be beneficiary of every monetary and household items CALDEV has gathered, from the charity work and sponsors.
He said, “The CALDEV charity walk is an annual event, we’ve been doing this since 2017, for two major purposes. The first is sensitization, we use the program as an advocacy platform to raise awareness of the need of the community to support orphans and vulnerable children. So we have gone around the city of Osogbo in the last couple of years since 2017, meeting with pedestrians, Motorcyclers, drivers, traders, artisans in their various places.
“Annually we do 5-20 kilometres. Apart from the sensitization, we also use the platform to raise funds and raise other support for Orphanages. As you can see today, in most of the places we went, we had other people who were dropping money in our boxes, we had people who gave us food items and so on.
“After this exercise, we will be hosting children from Orphanages and special schools where we will be distributing the things we collected as well as other things that CALDEV bought. We gathered the children together to sing dance and have their New Year party.”
Speaking on how to ensure transparency, Hon. Salam assured that the money boxes will be opened in front of everyone at the party, where everyone will witness the total amount. We’re expecting Over 300 children today at our event centre to come and benefit.
“Whatever we gather here is just like a gesture, as we speak CALDEV itself has bought several bags of rice and so many other household items we’re adding to it. We also had a large generous donation from our partners across the country and from the United States of America”, he added.
Alawo of Awo, Oba Abdulrasaq Taiwo Adegboye, who was present at the occasion, also expressed his appreciation to Representative Bamidele Salam for his continuous dedication to improving the lives of vulnerable children in the community.
The Coordinator of Orphanages in Osun, Alhaja Laoye S.O also used the opportunity to express her gratitude to Rep. Bamidele Salam for his relentless efforts in supporting orphanages and special needs schools across the state.
Caregivers present at the event voiced their appreciation to the CALDEV founder, acknowledging his unwavering commitment to the welfare of the children in their care.
After the charity walk, participants gathered at the Oasis Event Centre for a celebration, where the children were treated to a fun-filled afternoon of games, performances, and refreshments.
