Female workers of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemicals Company Limited (KRPC) Sunday distributed food items and toiletries worth millions of naira to orphanage homes in Kaduna State.

Basira Aliyu, President of the KRPC Women Forum, during the distribution exercise said the women would also include the award of scholarship, medical assistance to select orphans and the less privileged as well as freeing prisoners in prisons across the state in its subsequent activities.

She said the activities are part of the group’s objectives to reach out to the less privileged members of the society that includes orphans and widows.

“We carry out the exercise on a quarterly basis to touch the lives of the less privileged especially orphans and widows within KRPC host communities to complement KRPC management’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.

“The Managing Director, the Executive Director Operations, the Executive Director Services and other top management staff also made personal contribution for these activities.

“As mothers, we are touched by the plight of the orphans, widows and the less privileged, that is why we established this forum to organise such quarterly visits and distribution of food items in order to give them a sense of belonging and care.

“We have made it as part of our agenda my emergence as the President of the forum, four years ago,” Mrs. Aliyu said.

While commending the efforts of members of the forum and management of the refinery for their cooperation, she observed insufficient funding as a major challenge in carrying out their activities.

She called on other male workers of the refinery, individuals, corporate organisations and government to complement their efforts.

Hadiza Jibrin, coordinator of Al-ihsan Balsuma Children’s Home in Nasarawa suburb in Kaduna metropolis, said the new permanent home was built in 2016 by Zahra Buhari, the daughter of President Muhammadu Buhari, and has sponsored the marriage of 20 female orphans out of the over 200 orphans made up of boys and girls adopted.

“I am also an orphan who grew up from this orphanage home 20 years ago and currently got married.

“The orphanage home takes care of all our essential marriage needs that include provision of beds furniture and the rest. Government has never come to us with any assistance,” she added.

She expressed gratitude for the donation by the KRPC women and appealed to well to do members of the society, organisations and government to emulate them.

Gertrude Njoku, mother-in-charge of Faith Works Orphanage Ministry, at Kwoi Street, Sabon Tasha, expressed delight, saying: “The women forum are mothers who gave birth to children and know that there are some kind of children who do not have people they call mother, except for people like us who God gave them to look up to them.

“At times we drink gari and kuli-kuli as dinner, at times we will go to sleep no food to eat. So, if we are being remembered like this, we will have food to eat. We say thank you and God bless the KRPC women forum.

“In the past we use to receive government assistant, but that assistant has stopped coming three years ago.”

She said the orphanage has been running since 22 years ago and currently has 31 children.

Talatu Yahaya, Matron of Blessed Touch Orphanage Home, Rido, said the orphanage completely rely on contributions to feed the 26 children under their care.

She said three out of the 26 children are orphans, “the rest are being brought to us by the single parents of the children who cannot fend for children.

“All of them attend private schools and our major challenge is insufficient funds to settle their school fees. So, we also need assistance in that area.”

Tubers of yam, bags of rice, corn, jerry cans of vegetable oil, palm oil, noodles, biscuits, juice, cartons of toilet soap, tooth paste are among items distributed to the orphanage homes.

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