The Nigeria-based Sir Emeka Offor Foundation has donated $600,000 to Books For Africa (BFA), which will support the shipment of more than a million books to the children of Nigeria and across Africa.
"This donation represents the largest single donation we have ever received at Books For Africa, so naturally we are quite excited," said Patrick Plonski, executive director of BFA. "The generosity of Sir Emeka Offor in advancing education across the African continent is an outstanding example for others to follow."
Tom Warth, who founded BFA in 1988, said that the "benefits that will accrue to the young people of Africa through this generous donation are immeasurable. We at Books For Africa struggle every day to convince folks of the wisdom of education in the advancement of African nations. Over our 25 years many have agreed with us but to have your generous donation as an example in the future will make our task easier."
In a unique partnership with BFA that began in 2010, the Sir Emeka Offor Foundation has agreed to sponsor major shipments of books to Nigeria and The Gambia. In 2010, the Foundation sponsored eight containers to students in Nigeria and in 2011, another 16 containers, a total of about 530,000 books.
In 2012, the foundation sponsored the shipment 110,000 books for school children as part of Books For Africa's "Million Books to The Gambia" campaign.
The $600,000 donation will support the shipment of an additional one million books to the children of Africa. With funding provided by this grant, planning is currently under way to distribute an additional 1.1 million books to Nigeria, the Gambia, Somalia, Liberia, Tanzania, Namibia, Senegal, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Botswana, South Africa, sierra Leone, Malawi and Egypt.
The Sir Emeka Offor Foundation is a non-governmental philanthropic organization whose founder, Sir Emeka C. Offor, began in the 1990s to positively render assistance to the needy in society in various ramifications irrespective of tribe, creed, religion and nation.
Books For Africa is the world's largest shipper of donated text and library books to the African continent. It has shipped over 28 million books to 49 African countries over the past 25 years.
