Boat owners contribute to ‘Make a Child Smile’ |17 December 2020

In the spirit of giving, a group of longline fishing boat owners donated R100,000 to well-known benevolent organisation, Make a Child Smile, with the aim of supporting kids in need.

The donation was made possible in collaboration with the Minister for Fisheries Jean-François Ferrari and Internal Affairs Minister Roy Fonseka.

Clifford Mondon, chairperson of Make A Child Smile, received the R100,000 cheque during a ceremony hosted at the Seychelles Yacht Club yesterday.

According to Mr Mondon, the money will go towards assisting children who are in need, particularly those faced with health complications.

“Make a Child Smile does not have a fund to take from when a child comes to us for help, so I have to go knock on doors to be able to help them and this takes time. If a child comes to us tomorrow morning for urgent assistance, this contribution will be helpful since they will not have to wait,” explained Mr Mondon.

“We are presently supporting a small boy who is going for overseas medical treatment through the Ministry of Health, another one who has club foot but who cannot travel at the moment and two other children who will need future assistance.”

On behalf of the longline fishing boat owners, Gino Lespoir noted that yesterday’s donation is the start of many upcoming donations from the group, adding that this will be undertaken every year to assist other charities or organisations.

“Given the new energy in the country, we decided to partner with the ministers for a good cause. We all need each other so we joined together to assist children in need and this will not end here but more organisations will benefit in the future,” said Mr Lespoir.

Minister Ferrari added: “As Minister for Fisheries, I am hoping that this industry regains its importance and one of the ways to achieve this is for the boat owners to engage themselves more within the community. I thank them and hope that the children who benefit from this contribution experience a happy Christmas…”

The Make a Child Smile Foundation will be undertaking a Christmas Santa operation this weekend during which they will be going from door to door to give gifts to around 18 children and families who need the extra support this festive season.

Elsie Pointe