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Global money transfer company, Moneygram International, has held the 2012 edition of its popular Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) campaign, tagged: Gear Up for School (GUS).
Now in its second year, the “Gear Up for School” project is a two-part campaign in which MoneyGram teams with agent partners to distribute supplies and notebooks to schools. The second part comprises a consumer rewards promotion in which every customer who sends or receives money from any agent partner during the promo period receives instant gift items such as T-shirts, caps, rulers, pens and backpacks, and also has the chance to win laptop computers and backpacks filled with school supplies.
The book donation leg of the GUS campaign this year involved MoneyGram distributing learning materials to selected public primary schools in three major cities namely Ibadan, Benin and Lagos. In Ibadan, Oyo State and Benin, Edo state, MoneyGram, in addition to distributing thousands of writing materials to pupils of beneficiary schools, also embarked on colourful road shows in company of representatives of its agent banks to create more awareness about Moneygram in the cities.
In Ibadan, the Moneygram team and agent banks visited three schools. They were; C & S New Eden School 1 & 2, Mokola, Anwarul-Islam School, Eleyele and St. Michael Primary School 1, 3 and 7, Apata.
Both Mrs. Iyabo Ademola and Mr. Aliu Mukaram, who represented Access Bank during the donation of notebooks to pupils of C & S New Eden, expressed the readiness of the Bank to continue to activate the GUS project in partnership with Moneygram.
While speaking on behalf of the Headmistress of School 1, Mrs. Roseline Adenike-Taiwo, noted that the gesture was highly appreciated as it would further help parents and pupils at this time of school resumption.
Also, the Assistant Headmistress School 2, Mrs. Olubukola Olatunbosun, enjoined all other corporate bodies to come to the aid of public schools, as a way of alleviating the plights of most parents.
Earlier in his remarks, MoneyGram’s Marketing Manager for Anglophone West Africa, Gabriel Wilson, described the GUS programme as a laudable project that his organisation holds in very high esteem. The aim, according to him, is to encourage students to study hard to “attain great heights.” Said Wilson: “MoneyGram believes in education and with the right education, anyone can be someone great in future.”
“This project is part of Moneygram’s social responsibility commitment to the public particularly to schools to support the teaching and learning activities in Nigerian schools. The purpose is to assist in delivering good quality education ”, Wilson noted.
At Anwarul-Islam primary school where Moneygram made similar donation with UBA, a representative of the Nigerian Union of Teachers in the District, Pastor Emmanuel Olatunji, expressed delight at the programme.
He called on government to increase funding for education while encouraging other corporate organizations to emulate Moneygram.
At the St. Michael primary school, the Head Teacher of School 1, Comrade Ismaila Lasisi, said the programme was laudable and commended Moneygram for choosing the school.
Similarly, the Headmistress, School 7, Mrs. Joke Shodiya, said all the schools are full of appreciations to Moneygram while the Head Master School, 3, Amusa Akande, was full of praise for Moneygram and its agent Mainstreet bank who, she said, “have done something laudable to alleviate the sufferings of the masses”.
The Head of Primary School Section at the Ibadan South West Local Government, Adedeji Busola, said many sufferings of parents would be alleviated if other corporate institutions could emulate Moneygram.
Meanwhile, all the pupils interviewed during the exercise also showed their appreciations to Moneygram and the participating banks.
Moneygram operates in the country through most of the major commercial banks including Ecobank, Access Bank, Fidelity Bank, Mainstreet Bank, Enterprise Bank, UBA, First Bank, Keystone Bank, Union Bank, Sterling Bank and WEMA . MoneyGram deploys a number of CSR ( corporate social responsibility) initiatives in Nigeria including the Girl-child Education Sponsorship Initiative (GESI) and support for activities of the LAPO organization.
