May 6th is a significant day for the Dilmah family – the birth anniversary of our Founder Merrill J. Fernando. When we remember him, it is not only as the world’s most experienced teamaker, but as a man who devoted his life to preserving the integrity of Ceylon Tea and championing kindness towards people and planet.
What better way to celebrate him than through sharing kindness with those less fortunate because he believed that business is a matter of human service. Every year, on May 6th, the founding family and MJF Group teams reiterate their commitment to his vision towards making a stand for kindness. At the heart of the Dilmah Head Office, where he spent so much of his time, plans are afoot to extend that cup of kindness through their own efforts too.
This year, food packs, containing essential items to feed an average family for two weeks, are being shared with factory colleagues from several of our subsidiaries. In addition to nearly 1,000 packs for our colleagues, 400 elderly, retired workers on Kahawatte Plantations in Nawalapitiya and Kahawatte and over 600 of the most needy families in some of the most rural and far reaching corners of Sri Lanka received packs through our MJF Foundation Centres in the North and East. These packs also found their way to low income communities in the urban areas of Moratuwa, Peliyagoda and Kolonnawa. Meanwhile, 40 packs were presented to the families of children suffering from cancer who are being cared for at Suwa Arana – Sri Lanka’s first Paediatric Palliative Care Centre – where our Founder also contributed a special family wing for patients and their families to occupy during treatment.
Our extended MJF family – our staff – also made their own generous contributions to lunch and gifts offered to 26 children at the Peter Weerasekera Children’s Home in Yakkala, 20 pregnant mothers and 42 children at the Mother Theresa Home in Moratuwa, and 90 elders at the Mother Theresa Home in Mattakkuliya. At our MJF Centre East, our team headed to the Mental Health Rehabilitation Centre in Mavadivembu to provide lunch and a day of fellowship with 42 patients.
The spirit of volunteerism is infectious and far reaching amongst our colleagues who regularly contribute not only their resources but their time and effort to engage with the MJF Charitable Foundation and Dilmah Conservation in their varied humanitarian activities – reflecting our Founder’s legacy to Make The World A Better Tea, one that nurtures and grows.
