A LONDON-BASED Guyanese, with a passion for taking care of the needs of less fortunate children, recently made a presentation of food items and personal effects to the children of St. John Bosco Orphanage, Plaisance, East Coast Demerara.Mrs. Evelyn Solomon and her son Garfield Daw, now on a visit home for Guyana’s Golden Jubilee, handed over the items to Administrator of the Orphanage, Ms. Grace Daniels last Thursday afternoon.

The presentation was witnessed by benefactors Earle Morris and Yvette Goring, orphans at the institution and members of the media covering the assignment.

The orphanage has a steel orchestra and the children expressed their gratitude by rendering melodious steel pan music for the deeply appreciative guests.

Mrs. Solomon, who has been residing in London for the last 32 years, would travel home on vacation from time to time – on each occasion making donations to needy children. However, having two sons, she admits having a close affinity for boys, and so is preoccupied with making donations to the institution.

St. John Bosco Orphanage was established in 1879 by Roman Catholic priest, Father Luigi Casati, an Italian Missionary who gave shelter to a number of homeless boys in Plaisance.

Incredibly, out of that grew the well established orphanage of today, which provides a home for about 50 boys between the ages of 6 and 18. At present there are 45 on record – home schoolers, as well as Nursery to Grade 6.

In 1902 the orphanage was placed under the care of the Roman Catholic Sisters of Mercy in Guyana who continue to administer it, growing over the last 14 years from strength to strength.

The present building, a massive concrete structure, was opened in 2009, and is maintained with financial help from benefactors, both local and overseas. For those administering this arduous task, it is but a ‘labour of love’.

Meanwhile, on the Roman Catholic Calendar, Pope Francis has dedicated the year 2016 as the ‘Year of Mercy’. He affirmed that the ‘Holy Year’ is a response to the world’s need for a ‘revolution of tenderness’ from which ‘justice and all the rest derives’.