Ecobank Staff donate items worth GH₵280,000 to 4 institutions

By Christabel Oboshie ANNAN, Accra

Staff of Ecobank Ghana PLC have donated items worth GH₵280,000 to four centres in Dodowa, Weija, Sekondi and Suntreso in the Greater Accra, Western and Ashanti Region respectively.

The donations mark the maiden Ecobank Employee Volunteerism programme which aims to engage in projects that will impact positively on the social needs of deprived individuals and institutions in local communities.

The 1,264 employees in Ecobank Ghana who divided themselves into four, and one group visited the Weija Leprosarium and provided them with water tanks, pumps, detergents, among other items.

The second group also visited the Potter’s Village orphanage at Dodowa where they presented the orphans with food items, stationary pads, used clothing, shoes, Malaria and Typhoid Test Kits, toiletries and detergents.

The third group visited the Church of Pentecost Hospital at Madina and the Suntreso Hospital in Kumasi to settle the medical bills of expectant mothers, new mothers, and needy children.

The fourth group visited female inmates of Sekondi Prisons in the Western Region, where the team donated visitors shed, medical supplies, furniture, toiletries, detergents, a sewing machine and food to the inmates.

This also includes the payment of one-year medical bills for three critically ill inmates of the prisons.

Acting Managing Director of Ecobank Ghana, Madam Joana Mensah said the Ghana remains committed to playing an important role in the society, as a meaningful contribution to the development of the African continent, in line with its overall corporate vision.

She stated that the Employee Volunteerism  Programme gives Ecobank Ghana the opportunity to partly execute an important social contract that exists between the bank and its stakeholders, in the name of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

She noted that the programme involves the mobilisation of some 1,264 employees in Ghana to make personal contributions for the donations.

The contributions she indicated are purely voluntary, hence the name Ecobank Employee Volunteerism Initiative.

The Acting Managing Director said that CSR has assumed great importance in all dynamics and progressive institutions all over the world, with most stakeholder groupings expecting organisations to behave ethically and be more socially responsible.

“It is in line with these developments that Ecobank employees in Ghana have agreed to engage in projects that will impact positively on the social needs of deprived individuals and institutions in our local communities” she stated.

Madam Mensah added that employees being mindful of the fact that society has been kind to them deemed it appropriate to reciprocate the kindness by remembering to give something back in return every year, starting from the present donations.

He mentioned that the Bank will also supplement all contributions during such donations as part of its broader CSR activities for the year.

The Home Director of Potter’s Village orphanage, Sophia Naana Myers expressed gratitude to the staff of Ecobank Ghana for their kind gesture.

She pledged that the orphanage will make good use of the items adding that ‘the Lord blesses the works of their hands.

She further called on other institutions to help the orphanage home with more food items, toiletries as well as money.

“We also have an ongoing project for our girls’ dormitory and therefore call on well-meaning Ghanaians and organisations to help in completing it either in cash or kind,” she added.

Mr Edward Botchway, Executive Director, Head of Consumer Banking, Ecobank Ghana, said at the donation event at the Weija Leprosarium that the bank and its employees were committed to making a difference in the community.

“When you look at the need, when you look at the stigma that the inhabitants go through, clearly, you see the areas we could support. This had to be one of the areas we added to our list,” he said.

Mr. Botchway told the Leprosarium that assistance from the bank’s staff would be periodic.

“Hearing the need, we cannot leave this to the government or individuals alone. We all have to contribute. For us, this cannot be a one off event. It would be an event on our calendar that we would look at on a continuous basis,” he indicated. 

Reverend Father Andrew Campbell, a key figure in the Leprosarium’s management, expressed gratitude to the donors. 

He commended the employees for their selflessness.

“I am happy to see so many here from Ecobank. I am surprised and happy. They could have gone for weddings, engagements, funerals but they came here on a Saturday morning amidst the rain.”

Father Campbell requested help from other entities, saying that the Weija Leprosarium was in constant need.

“We are always in need. I am always begging for help because it’s so many. People from other Leprosarium always come to me with their needs. Our doors are open for your help, you can come and support us in many ways. All the residents here are on the need fund which is two cedis a day. That won’t get us far,” he said. 

Mr. John Ampao, the Leprosarium’s Senior Prefect, thanked the Ecobank employees for their extraordinary kindness.