Fonterra teams up with Sarvodaya

Fonterra Brands Sri Lanka and the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, one of the country's largest and oldest community organizations, formed a landmark partnership to work together on initiatives that improve the lives of the dairy farming communities.

Managing Director, Fonterra Brands Sri Lanka, Leon Clement said the dairy co-operative was delighted to partner with such a respected organisation renowned for service to Sri Lankan communities.

"We are committed to helping Sri Lanka build a strong dairy industry. We firmly believe that our efforts should extend beyond dairy farms and that we need to support local dairy communities where we operate as well. We have set up the Fonterra Grassroots Fund to work towards improving the quality of life in these communities and the partnership with Sarvodaya is one of several such initiatives," he said.

"Our long-term collaboration with Sarvodaya, will enable us to support more dairy communities," he added.

The two ECD centres at Hanwella needed major renovations. This included improvements to the exterior such as major roof repairs, and upgrades to the interior which consisted of substantial electrical work, replacing unusable furniture and equipping the centres with essentials such as first-aid kits and storage cupboards.

In the first six months of this partnership, Fonterra and Sarvodaya will work together on eight separate projects. The first two projects, renovating Early Childhood Development (ECD) Centres in the Hanwella area, have been completed.

Founder and President of Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne said, "We are happy to partner with Fonterra Brands Lanka to identify and renovate some of the most crucial establishments in our communities."

"Fonterra is made up of a group of people who come from a cooperative set up and owned by farmers. The company takes an interest in helping people. Sarvodaya too is an institute which works to help needy people in society. It is a movement by the people, for the people. This partnership is to serve the people, and I believe it will be very effective," he said.