Ikara Orphanage and Charity Trust, Ikara Local Government in Kaduna State, has supported 100 underprivileged households with food and provided 420 orphans with clothes to celebrate the end of Ramadan fast.
Malam Muktar Tukur, Secretary of the orphanage, disclosed this during the distribution ceremony at Ikara on Sunday.
Tukur said the orphanage supports 146 needy and underprivileged households within Ikara town.
He added that of the 146 needy and underprivileged households, 100 would be supported with rice, maize and guinea corn for the fasting.
He said the remaining households would also receive the package before the end of Ramadan as the support was just coming in from other philanthropists.
According to him, the orphanage had 1,331 orphans where it provides Salah clothing to 500 orphans out of the 1,331 annually.
“Due to the paucity of funds this year, it provided 420 orphans with Salah clothing,’’ he said.
He added that the orphanage provides health and educational support to the orphans, stressing that it has 417 students attending secondary school, 25 in different Universities in Katsina, Kano and Kaduna States.
Tukur said few of its female students are studying nursing and midwifery at Kaduna.
The secretary said few of the orphans who were unable to proceed to tertiary institution were linked to several jobs and skills to enable them become self reliant.
He appealed for more support to enable the orphanage expand its assistance and support to orphans outside Ikara local government.
Earlier in his welcome address, Alhaji Aminu Abdullahi, Vice Chairman, Ikara Local Government, commended the orphanage for the initiative.
Abdullahi appealed to the Emir of Zazzau, Malam Ahmed Bamalli, to use his connections and reach out to other philanthropists to widen the scope of the initiative.
This, according to him, would enable more orphans to benefit from the services being provided by the orphanage.
He, therefore, appealed to the general public for support to strengthen the initiative, stressing that subscription to good deeds such as this has dual benefit, both in this world and hereafter.
In his remarks, Emir of Zazzau, Malam Ahmad Bamalli, described the orphanage as the most organized and focused in the area and urged other communities to emulate them.
Bamalli also urges similar organizations to emphasize the education of these orphans, especially the girl child.
The traditional ruler lamented over the rising cases of drug abuse in some parts of Kaduna state and tasks the orphanage, parents and guardians to watch against the menace of drug abuse among adolescents.
