Shoprite Donates To Care Centre

The unique efforts of German-born Mrs. Hildegard Maria Ebigbo, proprietor of the Therapeutic Day Care Centre (TDCC), Abakpa Nike, Enugu State has not gone unnoticed, as the management of Shoprite supermarket recently donated N260,000 worth of gift vouchers to the centre

The school which caters for children with special needs that have mild learning disabilities or profound mental retardation; food allergies or terminal illness – received the donation as part of Shoprites’ charity campaign

Shoprite, the leading supermarket chain across Africa with a growing presence in Nigeria, had extended its ‘Help-Change-a-Life” initiative to the Enugu community, when it opened its store in August 2011. The Help-Change-a-Life initiative is Shoprite and its customers’ way of contributing and giving back to the community in which it operates.

In the last couple of months, the Change-a-life charity campaign has donated over N3million to notable voluntary institutions across the nation and the figures are bound to increase as more and more stores are opened.

In a letter of appreciation to the management of Shoprite, the Proprietress of the school Mrs H.M. Ebigbo expressed gratitude on behalf of the staff and students of the home school. “We assure you that the gift vouchers will be consciencously used for the children with special needs who are trained in our school, and live in our boarding houses.

Mrs. Ebigbo who has been in Nigeria since 1977, is married to Professor Peter Ebigbo (a Professor of Clinical Psychology, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria), who also is the pillar of support to the centre.

Therapeutic Day Care Centre (TDCC), Abakpa Nike, Enugu was established in January, 1979, in the garage of their university rented house; at a time there was great prejudice and a great tendency to neglect, or even kill children with mental and learning disabilities. TDCC currently has a special nursery and primary school, a sheltered workshop in Enugu, and an integrative school at Ihiala, Anambra State. At the moment there are 700 children at the TDCC Enugu and almost 400 in Ihiala.

The Enugu sales manager of Shoprite, Mrs Nnenna Anyadiegwu, said that the management is committed to recognising and supporting institutions that touch the lives of people. She further said, “this is the third donation from the store since it opened for business in Enugu, and it sure will go a long way in assuring the people of the city that we are truly part of the community”.

The choice for the institution was borne out of merit and outstanding dedication to the cause of salvaging the plight of the less privileged, which coincides with Shoprite’s own commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility.

—Henry Ojelu