SOS Children’s Villages of Pakistan commissioned and inaugurated its Youth Home project in Multan with the financial assistance of Monsanto Fund; a private foundation and philanthropic arm of Monsanto Company.
At the inaugural ceremony, SOS Children’s Villages of Pakistan President Ms Souriya Anwar thanked Monsanto for donating US $50,000 (Rs 4.5 million) for the project. Lauding Monsanto’s initiative she said that “the project will certainly provide different facilities to orphaned youth and help this extremely needy segment of society.”
SOS Youth Home Multan is spread over 20,000 square feet. A much-needed Technical Training Centre is also part of the project, which has been sponsored by Embassy of Netherlands. Administration Block and a Community Centre have been completed with the donation of Mr Imtiaz Sheikh. This facility, being looked after by trained and motivated professionals, houses all amenities required to impart knowledge to the orphaned and needy youth of SOS Multan with dignity and a vision to mold them into contributing members of the society.
Monsanto Pakistan Commercial Affairs Head, Muhammad Ilyas Nadeem said that the company follows an elaborate CSR philosophy which entails consistent contributions in uplifting the society wherever Monsanto operates and boasted earthquake victims’ rehabilitation in 2005 and flood relief efforts in 2010. During the floods of 2010, Monsanto had donated Rs 8.6 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) to support relief work for the flood victims in Pakistan. Apart from this contribution, Monsanto Pakistan’s staff also donated their salaries to alleviate the sufferings of thousands of flood victims
Since 1964, the Monsanto Fund has worked to substantially and meaningfully improve people’s lives. SOS operates Youth Home projects in Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Abbottabad and Sargodha aswell.
