Didco donates to cash-strapped Help and Shelter
Stabroek News
January 29, 2003
Didco Trading Company yesterday came forward with an immediate donation of $341,000 in an effort to keep open the shelter for abused women and children operated by Help and Shelter (H&S).
On Monday H&S announced that the shelter, which has served as a refuge for 98 domestic violence victims since 2001, would close at the end of the month due to the lack of funds.
After receiving the cheque, H&S Director Elizabeth Cox expressed appreciation for the gesture and said the organisation would be grateful for similar contributions from other donors.
"Closing the shelter was a very difficult decision. It was one that was arrived at after long and hard thought." She added that guaranteed funding for at least one year would be necessary if the shelter was to stay open.
Cox said that only two of the five paid staff members previously employed by the shelter now remain with most of the other staffers being volunteers. Meanwhile, Didco's Personnel and Marketing Officer Solange Pertab told the media her company wanted to give something back to the community.
In a telephone interview on Monday, H&S Vice-Chairman Vidyaratha Kissoon indicated that monthly operation costs for the shelter total $347,000, thus some $8.5M would be required over the next two years.
