L.A.D Charity
Three teenagers, Laolu Adeeyo, Anjolaoluwa Amosun and Damilola Animashaun (LAD Charity) spent their summer 2011 holidays voluntarily working at the Lions Motherless Babies Home in Lagos. They chose to spend time teaching the children songs and dance steps, simply to put smiles on their faces.
Well aware that charity work is a good way to help out in the community, the three young volunteers were inspired to do even more. Over the Christmas 2011 holiday period, they decided to raise funds for the benefit of motherless babies’ homes.
They formed a charity called LAD, an acronym for Leave A Donation, derived from the first initials of their names: Laolu, Anjola and Damilola. They organized an impressive fundraiser on the 23rd of December, 2011 at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Their efforts were met with an admirable response. They announced that the government-owned Stella Obasanjo Home in Abeokuta, Ogun State, a home they had visited and assessed several times before, would be the sole beneficiary of all funds raised.
The management and staff of the Home were consulted to identify their pressing needs in order of priority. It was discovered that their most urgent need was additional living space for the children, who were cramped and overcrowded.
The LAD team promised to see what their funds would allow them to do. They returned to raise additional money by encouraging people to redeem their pledges and then came back to execute the project.
All members of the LAD Charity are students, and so, in between their studies, they commenced the project and spent their holidays supervising it. On the 5th of July, 2013, the ultra-modern hostel building, comprising two 10-bedded dormitory-style rooms and six dormitory-style toilets and showers, fully kitted out with beds, cots and bedding, was handed over and dedicated to the glory of God and the benefit of mankind.
Laolu is the son of Mr. Sola Adeeyo, a well-known flourishing banker and the Chairman of Astral Waters Ltd. Anjolaoluwa is the daughter of Senator Ibikunle Amosun FCA, a Chartered Accountant and former Governor of Ogun State, while Damilola Animashaun is the daughter of Mr. Bankole Animashaun, the Director and Corporate Lawyer for LaCasera and the Animashaun Group of companies.
These are children who might otherwise have spent their summer and Christmas holidays lazing about without a worry in the world, trying to have as much fun as possible. Yet they chose a different path, becoming a source of inspiration to many and challenging their contemporaries to think of ways to help the less privileged in society.
If you feel inspired by the deeds of these teenagers, please feel free to LAD (leave a donation) by getting in touch with them at leaveadonation@gmail.com.
