Expatriates in the United States Continue to Sponsor Ranaviru Children
September 2, 2009 —
By Senaka Seneviratne
A group of Sri Lankan expatriates in the United States have volunteered to provide monthly scholarships for the needy school children of the heroic sailors who had laid down their lives on the battlefield.
The annual Sri Lankan summer picnic in New Jersey was organized by Dr. Anil Vitarana and colleagues, and was held in Cranford, New Jersey, on August 30th. Among the many attractions at the event were food stalls that served hot Sri Lankan delicacies such as lumprais and hoppers; the short eats were a crowd-puller. There was also a Sri Lankan Idol singing contest and a cricket tournament in which dozens of cricket teams took part in perfect weather conditions. There were many games for children too.
A popular attraction at this event was the Ranaviru Sponsorship tent where grateful Sri Lankan expatriates living in the New York / New Jersey area gathered to sponsor the children of heroic Sri Lankan Naval personnel who have made the supreme sacrifice to defend the motherland from a brutal grip of terror.
All sponsorship applications received will be forwarded to the Sri Lanka Navy in due course to match with needy children in order to arrange a monthly scholarship for them.
The organizers of the Ranaviru Sponsorship project have received details of many children of deceased sailors who are in need of assistance for education. Their fathers have been killed in action or are missing in action.
The Ranaviru Sponsorship project was launched a few months back in a similar Sri Lankan gathering held in the New Jersey area, and the organizers were able to arrange 38 monthly scholarships in that event also.
Originally published on the Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence website on September 2, 2009.
Click here to access the original article.
