Donate Happiness

Donate Happiness the annual community service project for 2011 was a massive target which were ahead of the Bridge Club Sri Lanka’s year plan which was focused on the children in the cancer hospital. Every member accepted the project at once at the meetings and suggestions that the club had after the mission project.

Firstly club members went to the cancer hospital and identified the needs of the children and the hospital administration and the doctors in the ward. Then the club contacted Dr. Wasantha Rathnayake of the hospital and fixed the 18^th June for the event and started focusing on collecting the needs and funds for the project. Our dedicated member Singravel Kethiswaram of Xess Marketing designed a poster and a donation sheet with all the needs, contacts and other details to distribute among members of the club. Each and every club member including members abroad gave their fullest cooperation in fulfilling the task. We were able to achieve beyond our target within a very short period.

Our members collected donations and other needs baby soap, towels, eua de cologne, paper cutters and oxypura masks as well.The hospital administration requested us to provide the medicines KLARICID and CURAM. With our senior member Ahshan Ali’s contacts and other members’ contacts we were able to buy and get the required medicine and additional medicine which were worth approximately 1000 dollars.

After we collected the donations we gather all the materials to the Dilshan Jayathilake’s home to do the necessary packaging. 100 parcels were made including two baby soap, one towel, one eua de cologne within a each parcel to distribute. Separate gifts were made to present to the children who will win the small games that we planned to have.

On the 18^th June 2011 the club members went to the Cancer Institute at Maharagama to give their service to the needy children in the pediatric ward. A steel cupboard was bought and delivered to the premises. The children who were interested with the drawing and painting were gathered and held an art competition and motivated them by club members to continue their abilities and talents. Children were really interested and did their maximum and drew really colorful and appreciating drawings.

The musical chairs were taken place as the next proceeding of the day. The children were really interested with the game, music and the rhythm. We were able to enjoy it a lot through their happy faces we saw within the game. Their wish to go to move with the ordinary children and have an unforgettable happier childhood were reflected within the game and we prayed from our whole heart to all their dreams to become true. All the club members were involved with the game and give their fullest cooperation to motivate the brothers and sisters to participate to the game enthusiastic. Each and every child who was knocked out from the game got a gift parcel and became happy.

Dr. Wasantha Rathnayake joined with us after his ward visit in the pediatric ward and thanked us on behalf of the administration of Cancer Institute. The club handed over the steel cupboard to the children kindergarten unit and the medicines to the pediatric ward which we collected with the dedication and commitment of club members to the hospital administration by token handing over of the items to Dr. Wasantha Rathnayake .

The winners of the art competition were selected and presented special gifts in appreciation of their amazing talents. Some drawings which we were selected were really meaningful ion the sense of the children’s vision on world. The children and their parents who were present and joined with us appreciated our work and conveyed their hearty gratitude to all the Bridge Club Sri Lanka members who contributed to make the event a success. Finally our members went to the wards and distributed all the parcels we prepared previous day to the children who were at the ward and donated happiness to them and made their faces a smiling face.

Following members were Participated to the project

1. Sujith Jayasuriya – JA 1989 – PA 1999
2. Ahshan Ali – JA 1992 – PA 1999
3. Dulanjan Lokupathirage – JA 1996 – PA 2001
4. Upeka Kalubadanage – JA 1996 – PA 2002
5. Kasun Gunasekara – JA 2000 – PA 2005
6. Lahiru Abeyweera – JA 2000 – PA 2006
7. Dilshan Jayathilake – JA 1999 – PA 2011
8. Lakmal Muthugama – JA 2001 – PA 2011

prepared by :- Lakmal Muthugama (Vice President BCSL)