Corporate bodies donate to Million Balls Project

The quest to solicit, and give as gifts, a million soccer balls, and use them as a raised platform to advocate on child and community development issues by ORPED Ghana, has received a major boost from three corporate bodies - RICS Consult, MARGINS Group and the Babarossa Foundation - at three separate ceremonies.

At the Alisa Hotel in Accra last Friday, Mr. Magnus Rex Danquah, Board Chairman of the Charities arm of RICS Consult, donated the first set of 25 quality mitre soccer balls to the Million Balls Africa Project, through its Ghana Country Team Leader, Mr. Eric Amponsah Boateng.

At the ceremony, Mr. Rex Danquah lauded the Millions Balls Africa Project for Children and Young People, and entreated all present, to build partnerships that would eventually bring good tidings to children, communities, and marginalised social groups.

In a related development, Margins Group, a leading company in the binding and lamination, and ID systems industry in Ghana, has recognised and designated ORPED Ghana the company's official charity status, and would support ORPED's Million Balls Africa project.

So far the company has donated 150 footballs for onward distribution.

The Babarossa Foundation, the Puma Shop in Accra, and Nana Boakye of the Sports Desk of Citi FM in Accra, have all donated various quantities, with promises to donate more as the project days progress.

In acknowledging all these donations, Mr. Eric Amponsah Boateng, Ghana Country Team Leader, expressed special thanks to all the donors, and urged other corporate bodies and individuals to donate towards this unique project, intended to use the soccer fiestas of the 2010 CAN and FIFA World Cup to offer a platform to address many of the issues of the Millennium Development Goals.

Mr. Boateng said at present, the project was nearing its pilot stage in Ghana, and stated that the project puts Ghana at the forefront of providing Africa with innovative solutions to recalcitrant challenges. He urged African children of today, to appreciate reading, and see reading as a necessary daily chore, which would help to build their intellectual capacities.