Church donates to poor people, institutions

Page 22, May 3, 2008
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah, Asamankese
THE Seventh-Day Sabbath Church of Christ has held its 10th annual charity show at Asamankese during which items worth GH¢70,000 were distributed to poor individuals and needy institutions.
The items included 500 full pieces of cloth, 100 cartons of key soap, four bales of used clothes and 21 white canes for the blind.
The beneficiary institutions included Nsawam Prisons, Madam Grace Omaboe’s Orphanage, the Osenase Ophanage, the Unit School for the Deaf at Kyebi, the Akropong School for the Blind, the Federation of Disabled at Asuom, the Ghana Association of the Blind and the Association of Blind Unemployed.
More than 500 individuals, including widows and orphans, also benefited from the church’s gesture.
Speaking at the function, the Founder and General Overseer of the church, Apostle Ephraim K. Danso, said it was the responsibility of the church to assist the needy in society.
He stated that it was not enough for the church to preach the gospel to people who were in need, stressing that the church would continue its annual charity show to share the little it had with the poor.
The assembly member for Asikafoammantem, a suburb of Asamankese, Madam Christiana Boateng, said the church had made practical, the biblical saying that “there is more blessing in giving than receiving.”
She stressed the importance of education and asked parents to take advantage of the institution of the government’s interventions such as the Capitation Grant and the School Feeding Programme, to enrol their children in school.
An industrialist, Mr J. A. Biney, who chaired the function, expressed concern about the increasing irresponsible acts of fathers, who shirk their parental responsibilities.
He commended the church for its gesture and urged other religious denominations to emulate the gesture.
Mr Biney promised to donate 200 gallons of liquid soap to the church for distribution to orphanages and other needy institutions.
As part of the programme, members of the church donated 143 pints of blood to the Akwatia Saint Dominic Hospital.
On behalf of the beneficiaries, Madam Grace Omaboe, also known as Maame Dokono, thanked the church for responding positively to the plight of the needy.