The Kandy Friend-In-Need Society (KFINS) Having been established in 1837, is one of the oldest social service organizations operational in Sri Lanka, and has been providing social welfare services over a period of almost two centuries. I also would like to mention that due to the dedication and sacrifice of, and financial discipline of the members who have held responsible positions in the Society over this period, we have been able to accumulate fixed assets worth Rs. 420 million and financial assets worth about Rs. 100 million.
However, a matter of concern to the Board of Trustees at this juncture that is being subject to much discussion is how to ensure the sustainability and continuing of this organization as well as its social welfare services ensuring credibility, safety and security. In this connection it would be pertinent to identify the important factors that have contributed to KFINS’s success over such a long time as a model social welfare service provider, winning the goodwill and confidence of the general public:
- Dedicated efforts of the general membership
- Consideration given to their social background and public acceptance, as well as willingness to participate in social welfare work, when recruiting new members
- Non consideration of caste and ethno-religious background, place of birth or area of residence etc. when recruiting members and offering welfare services, everyone being considered belonging to a common Sri Lankan community
- Ensuring that highly esteemed persons with proven integrity are elected to the Board of Trustees
- Giving due consideration to ensure the representation of all ethno-religious groups in the election of members to the Management Council
- Ensuring utmost transparency in the use of the Society’s assets, especially the financial assets, providing relevant information to the membership
A brief account of the activities being undertaken currently is given below.
- In the premises of our headquarters at 819, Peradeniya Road, about 100 senior citizens are offered free residential accommodation with all the meals, clothing, bedding and medicines. They enjoy the evening of their life in a safe, secure, pleasant and hassle-free environment
- At our second Senior Citizen’s Home at Ampitiya, residential accommodation with similar facilities is provided to 30 elders
- Our newest project is for the establishment of the third Senior Citizen’s Home in a property donated to us by a philanthropist; the Kulugammana Senior Citizen’s Home for Ladies is expected to commence operations shortly
- A joint project is operated with the Subodharamaya Temple in Peradeniya, to provide residential accommodation to 16 elderly Buddhist monks, who are compelled to seek such accommodation due to age related issues. The Chief Priest of the temple handles the fund raising and operational activities of this project
- Three female Buddhist Monks are offered the right to reside in a property at Nelumwila in Gurudeniya, donated to the Society by a philanthropist, with the request that it be used to provide residential accommodation to Buddhist clergy who need such accommodation
- The fact that senior citizens in the middle-income categories are also increasingly seeking institutionalized residential accommodation is being made obvious through the requests made by them to us for such facilities. Factors such as migration of their children to foreign countries, or even to distant areas locally after marriage, and the parents’ desire to allow the children to live their own life by moving out into an institution to live with others of the same age group sharing their experiences, are contributing to this situation.
- This demand has compelled us to move beyond the concept of ‘helping the needy’ and provide residential accommodation to such persons at a cost based on their socio-economic background. To meet this demand, six additional rooms with modern facilities have been added to the 20 rooms that already exists at the Visrama Niwasaya at 819, Peradeniya Road and eight cottages at Ampitiya. Further, architectural drawings have been prepared to construct a new set of rooms at Ampitiya.
- Observation of a trend for intelligent children in rural areas who get admission to schools with better facilities in Kandy based on the results of the Year 5 Scholarship Exam and join school hostels, are being compelled to miss this opportunity that they had earned through a dedicated effort because of the poor economic situation of their families, has led us to venture into a ‘Foster Children’s Education Program’; 5-10 carefully selected such children from each of eight schools with hostel facilities, are provided with financial assistance amounting to Rs 38,000/- per annum for seven years, from Year 6 to Year 12 (inclusive). Our aim is to increase the number of Foster Children from the current 50 to 100 within a short time.
- Under the ‘Prem Weerakoon Scholarship Program’, two children who gained university admission from the families of the KFINS’s staff, are receiving financial assistance.
- In addition to above, 50 students from the Plantation Sector schools are provided with books and educational material; each student receives a parcel worth more than Rs. 5000/- annually.
- Another program that commenced implementation in 2023 is the ‘’Adopt an Elder Program’, under which senior citizens who need financial assistance and are unwilling to be inmates in a senior citizens’ home, are identified with the help of the Social Services Department and selected through field visits by members of the Management Council, are provided with dry rations worth Rs. 5000/- on a monthly basis.
- Fund raising for and monitoring of, item numbers vii to xi above, are carried out by the members of the Management Council who introduced them.
- The above information is provided with the intention of making you aware of how the KFINS has gained recognition as an important social welfare provider.
- The main challenge that our organization is faced with is the ‘age factor’ of the members of the Board of Trustees and the Management Council; most of them are over 70 years of age, while a few have gone beyond 80. Their mental and physical abilities are waning and age- related issues are creeping in! Needless to emphasize that this does not auger well for the sustenance of the organization and possible expansion of its welfare activities.
- We have come to the conclusion that the best way to meet this challenge would be to identify younger members in the families of the KFINS’s current members, who have been associated with it over a long time, showing sympathy and concern towards elders and others who need to be offered a helping hand, and had been active in identifying creative opportunities to reach out to them.
- The decision was made, therefore, to form an organization, ‘KFINS – Second Generation’. A list of the persons identified to be the founder members of this organization is attached hereto.
- We need some basic information about each person in the list, to get the official approval of the KFINS’s Board of Trustees to form ‘KFINS – Second Generation’ nominating them as founder members.
- Considering above, please be so good as to provide the information requested in the attached form, and hand it over to the KFINS office.
We wish you a Happy and Peaceful New Year, filled with Hope and Prosperity!
Thank you and best regards.
E H M P Elkaduwa
President, KFINS
