Meeting with AISA PTA Leaders is a Continuation of a Beautiful Friendship
In recognition of Sir Emeka Offor's recent donation to the American International School (AISA) International Food Fair and Festival, the President of Parents Teachers Association (PTA) joined other PTA leaders on a courtesy visit on Tuesday, May 20th. Sir Emeka is the Executive Vice Chairman of The Chrome Group, an oil and gas conglomerate, and founder of Sir Emeka Offor Foundation (SEOF).
The group President, Dana Mendelson, said the visit was to extend their appreciation for Sir Offor’s generosity and his recent donation of the sum of N2,000,000 towards the fundraiser held on April 19th at Hilton Congress Hall.
Mrs. Mendelson during her opening remarks stated that the purpose of the International Food Fair & Festival was to create an opportunity “for the school to come together as one community, now we have in our school about 48 to 50 nationalities and it is not always easy getting everybody together as a community and that’s one of the things the PTA works hard towards doing. The International food festival is that event where everybody comes together because each community, each nation makes food that represent…we have five tables that represent five continents of the world. And we also try to do some external fundraising, but really, I have said this before; all of us, we are just of course pleasantly shocked and amazed at your generosity and this will enable us to move forward with the project that we have towards the end of this year.”
“We actually came here to see if there is more things we can do together may be in our community or help out with all of your wonderful projects. We have an amazing student body and parents that really want to give back to the community…and so we thought this meeting might be the beginning or continuance of a beautiful friendship that we think is already sprouting, she further stated.
She continued: “Like Dana said, this is an honour for us to come and meet with you and to say thank you for your generosity and to tell you a bit about our school.” She stated that American International School is a non-profit organization that has existed for about 20 years and has been able to give scholarships to students. She mentioned that about 2 of their students have passed into the American International University in Abuja with scholarship but they are not able to do more even though there is a misconception that they have a lot of resources. In summary, the board president said the association would like to partner with a big foundation like SEOF.
Accompanying Mrs. Mendelson were Sarah Smith-Gara, PTA Vice President, Simona Noca, PTA Treasurer, Roseline Wathang, PTA food coordinator, and Hauwa Maina Maaji Lawan, President of Board of Governors.
Sir Offor, who was there in person to meet with the group, was accompanied by Dr. Okey Udeh (former Dep. Gov. of Anambra State), Honorable Eluemunoh, Mr Fred Udechukwu (MD GlobalScan Systems Technology) and Dr. Uzoigwe.
Representing The Chrome Group at the meeting were Mrs. Joyce Nton Human Resources Director, Group Chief Administrator Chief Innocent Anoliefo and Dr. Edwin Ndukwe Head of Communication/Business Development. Others include Honourable Tony Obi SEOF Coordinator and Rosaline Agiamoh Polio Ambassador Representative ably represented SEOF, the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of the Chrome Group.
Responding to their remarks, Sir Offor said his friend and brother Dr. Udeh urged him to take a look at what the school is doing and, in the process, he was happy to donate the sum of N2 Million towards the food fair and festival. He said two weeks later he received a letter of appreciation from the school. There he learned that the PTA body wanted to pay him a visit. To that effect, he said he had invited the Coordinator of SEOF, Honourable Tony Obi to be present to see how this partnership can be developed. Sir Offor pledged to continue his supports for AISA PTA projects and thanked them for the wonderful legacy they have maintained over the years.
Speaking at the meeting, Dr. Udeh thanked Sir Offor for his generosity to the group. He also thanked the members of the PTA for the work done in educating the young minds. As a parent of one of the students from the school, he said, he has witnessed first-hand the quality of academia and training given to the children. Turning to the visiting PTA group, he said, “the most important thing you have to take home from this meeting is that you have to frame a way to partner with what he (Sir Offor) is doing.” He further used the opportunity to enlighten the visitors on Sir Offor’s philanthropic efforts towards polio eradication in the country. “You see, he (Sir Offor) has grown into giving back to the society what the society gave to him,” Dr. Udeh affirmed.
Drawing on Sir Offor’s commitment to helping the larger society, Dr. Udeh said that the Founder of Sir Emeka Offor Foundation could be likened to Bill Gates in his giving.
“I want to appreciate your visit coming to the headquarters of Chrome Group of which Sir Emeka Offor Foundaton is an offshoot, a window for showcasing Corporate Social Responsibility to the society. What actually touched me was the aspect where you are not just running that place as a PTA but also as an NGO concerned on collaborating on how to better the lives of younger people. It is very interesting in that we are collaborating with other NGOs like the Yar’adua Foundation."
Hon. Obi encouraged the group to look into making provision for what he described as “indigent intelligent students” to gain admission into American International School.
Dr. Edwin Ndukwe wrote via [email protected]
