It was a feeling of excitement among 500 beneficiaries of grants, food items and others donated by The Caridad Ernesto Empowerment Foundation.
The 500 beneficiaries, which include people living with disabilities, widows, students and businessmen, were drawn from five local government areas of Edo North Senatorial District of Edo State.
The beneficiaries received food items, cooking materials and undisclosed amounts of money as business and education grants.
Speaking at the ceremony, which was held in Auchi, headquarters of Etsako West local government area of the State, the Director General of the Foundation, Tijjani Muhammed, said the event was the fourth and that the Foundation whose owner has chosen to remain anonymous had previously extended the gesture to Edo Central Senatorial District and in future will cover the entire state.
Muhammed said: “The Foundation has been funded by somebody who does not want to see people suffering or want people around him not to be happy, so he decided to establish The Caridad Ernesto Empowerment Foundation to help the needy. This is our fourth effort in putting smiles on the faces of many.
“Today’s event is in four phases, one to give donations to the physically challenged people and widows and then grants for education and business.
“The man behind this came from a very humble background and what he is trying to do is to give back to his people across the three senatorial districts of Edo State, to identify their needs and support them. We gave food items and other items to widows and physically challenged and then grants for business and education. This is our fourth and very soon we will design the next programme.”
A beneficiary, Okhakumhe Moses, who is the chairman of People Living With Disabilities (PLWD) in Etsako Central local government area, said: “I am short of words but I have to say thank you because what I saw today is something I cannot just explain. I am overwhelmed but I say thank you and may God reward our benefactor and wherever he got the money to do this, God will replenish him and protect him and his family.”
Also, Gabriel Ukanah from Igarra in Akoko-Edo local government area said: “I want to thank the ororganisers of this programme, I think we quite appreciate and on behalf of myself and other colleagues that we came here together from Igarra in Akoko-Edo, we want to say that God will continue to replenish his purse and in all his endeavours, God will continue to be with him, we quite appreciate this.”
While Alasa Deborah, another beneficiary said: “We are very grateful and appreciate the man that has done this and we pray for all those that he has also used to reach us, God will continue to enrich him and these that we have been given, we will never forget.”
One of the beneficiaries of the education grants, Frank Anaverokhia, a 400 Level Medical Student from Etsako Central local government area said: “I am very grateful to receive this grant to help me in my education. I am a 400 Level medical student at the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma. I am very grateful for this and I pray for the donor that God would support him and replenish him and provide for him to be able to empower more people.”
