Summary
A golden opportunity was placed on the hands of SLCAO to send approximately 200 electric beds to Sri Lanka. This was a result of a building renovation at St. Patrick Home in Ottawa. The opportunity was first communicated to Mr. Roshan Fernando, President SLCAO by Mr. Lionel Premasiri and Mr. Manoj Desilva on the 22nd January 2014. There after, without wasting any time The Executive Committee went full steam ahead to raise the money to meet with the transportation costs related to the shipment. It was estimated that two containers were required @US$4000. By the 29th January SLCAO raised $5940 in pledges. A decision was made to send only one container. Mr. Roshan Fernando financed $4700 while monies were collected. There have been $6440 in pledges as of the 5th February 2014. We will be purchasing 220v-110v step drown transformers and mattresses from the balance remaining after shipping costs.
List of Donors
2013- New Year Photo booth money(as directed by Chaminda Weerakoon) 545
Vishan Senevirathne
Roshan Fernando
Tilak Waidyaratne
Praveen Abeygunawardana
Keerthi Weerasooriya
Anura & Asha Gamage
Sarath Rathnasooriya
Anura Ferdinand
Niranjala Gajanayake
Mahinda Piyasiri
Chaminda Perera
Ajith Samarajeewa
Manoj De Silva
P. Hapuarachchi
Ranjini Alwis
Nimal Ratnayake
Kanthi & Lakshman Dias
Nandana Gajanayake
Gamini Senarath
Roshan Rajapakse
Patrick Silva
Kumudini &Martin Nicholas
Lionel Edirisinghe
Chaminda Wijeshinghe
Gamage Palihapitiya (toronto)
Ranga Walakulu (Toronto)
Renuka Subasinghe
Susantha Mohotalage
Viran De Alwis
Nayana De Silva
Nuwan Sampath
Geethe Nadugale
Nimal De Silva
Viresh Wickramasinghe
Nissanka Pussegoda
Pushpa Weerasooriya
Lakmini Seneviratne
Somey Weerasuriya (toronto)
Prabath Jayasuriya
Sue Widyaratne
Ranjith Galabadaarachchi
Sirinatha Gunawardena
Anoma Tissera
Rajendra Alwis
Chandre Dharmawardhane
Neil Silva
Naradha Kodituwakku
Nirosh Kannangara
Mahesh De Silva
Champa & Ralph Tissera(Windsor)
Samanmalie & Prabath Dasanayaka (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
The Flyer
Letter from the Minister of Special Project Hon. S.M. Chandrasena
Packing Day (January 31st 2014)
Update as of February 5th 2014
First of all, thanks you all for the generous donations which flawed in from all directions. The estimate was to pack 80 - 90 beds into ONE container. We gathered at the St. Patrick's Hospital and home (2865 Riverside Drive) around 10 AM on Saturday the 1st, February.
There was lot of physical work involved to get the beds in to the container. A group has to collect the beds from all the floors, prepared them and bring to ground level, another group physically lifted each bed on to the container, and the third group would stack the beds in the container.
Proper stacking was the key to maximize capacity. Although, the first couple of hours were slow, our group got the hang of everything fairly quickly. Once everyone got the hang of it loading started to move. The big snow came in the early afternoon, but that did not deter determined hearts of our group. Beds started stacking on and on and we finished the loading at almost 8:30 PM. Wait for it....The final count was 142 beds!
Approximately 30 volunteers helped us in loading the beds. Some gave us couple of hours, some could give more and some were there for the whole 10 hours or so consistently helping. Some came in bearing coffee and/or food for the people working. In the group there were couple of youngsters, couple of teenagers, and a couple of older men. Immaterial of the age, everyone worked to their fullest to archive the common goal. The group who worked on loading and stacking had the most arduous task as they were exposed to the elements. As the evening grew, it was getting colder. Some were getting cramps, others were getting frost bites, But the work carried on until the final goal was achieved! Bravo!
What a tremendous group work! At the end of the day, it felt like we could achieve anything with this kind of group dynamic. Thank you all! Among the people present were SLCAO members, community members, and Sri Lanka High Commission staff. Rev. Father Fonseka toiled with us the whole day and finished up with a real heart-warming prayer. He was grateful (to the gods) that we were able to achieve our goal and more without any injury or damage to our team members. His prayer also wished that we achieve the next phase (deployment in Sri Lanka) successfully to make this contribution really worthwhile. We will keep you informed of the progress of this project. Thank you for your continuing support to the SLCAO and its projects. Please stay tuned for more updates on this project.
List of Volunteers
Rev. Fr. Thyagan Fonseka
Lional Premasiri
Roshan Fernando
Naradha Kodituwakku
Keerthi Weerasuriya
Anura Ferdinand
Praveen Abeygoonawardana
Abdul Manman
Dilan Perera
Dhammika Herath
Gaminda Kalansuriya
Asoka Vidyarathne
Chaminda Wijesinghe
Patrick Silva
Kalpana Galappaththi
Roshan Rajapakse
Yassas Rajapakse
Sandali Rajapakse
Hiluni Rajapakse
Max Baier & Anoma Tissera
Devin Premasiri
Dhanad Premasiri
Irusha Vidanamadura
Nayana De Silva
Vishan Senevirathne
Dhammika Vidyarathne
Nimal De Silva
Priyanka Alwis
Chaminda Weerakoon
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37Click here to view pictures captured by Mr. Vishan Senevirathne
Letter received from The Minister Special Projects on the 24th April
Letter received from The Director Medical Supplies, Sawsiripaya and pictures on the 28th of May 2014
Update: 17th September 2014
Handing over ceremony North Central Province General Hospital
Update: 18th September 2014 response from Karapitiya General Hospital, Galle
Update: 18th September 2014, response from District General Hospital Negambo
