The Southern Region Social Football Committee (SRSFC) says last week’s Baby Terry Social Football Tournament generated K1.1 million, with half of it going to the baby.
Last Saturday the committee organised a daylong 7 a side tourney at the Limbe Country Club in Blantyre to raise money towards the treatment of Terry Ndugu Nyirenda (Baby Terry) who is in need of a liver transplant.
The 6 month old Kasungu resident needs about K30 million to undergo the operation in India.
According to SRSFC Vice Treasurer Lucy Chidule, K584,300 has gone to Terry while K538,500 was used in expenditures during the tournament.
A total of 36 teams registered for the event but 24 took part, each paying K10,000 which translated into K360,000 while individuals within the grouping contributed a total of K145,000.
Charter Insurance chipped in with K320, 000 as Multipack Company and Castel Group donated K100,000 and K68,000 respectively.
Some K95,000 came from beer and food sales, while Nyasa Big Bullets Chief Executive Officer Fleetwood Haiya was part of the initiative having made a K30,000.
“We are very grateful to all the teams, companies and individuals for supporting this noble cause. We targeted to raise about K3 million but failed to hit the target largely because the whole initiative was organised within a short period which denied us enough time to reach out to more companies and individuals. But we are satisfied with the response and feel encouraged to continue with charitable activities where need be,” said Chidule.
In his remarks, a member of Terry’s family, Jibu Nyirenda applauded SRSFC for the initiative.
“Many people look at social football as a pastime activity, but here the sport has taken a vital step towards saving the life of our baby,” he said.
Nyirenda then disclosed that there has been a slight change in Baby Terry’s departure programme.
“He was initially supposed to leave for India on Wednesday (14 February) but the doctor has advised us to leave on 23 February,” he said.
Nyirenda also revealed that they have managed to raise over the required K30 million and was grateful to companies and individuals for the support.
Ma Stars won the tournament following a shock 1-0 win over pre-tournament favourites SR Socials.
