Red Ribbon night lauded

By SHIRLYN BELDEN
THE Red Ribbon Charity dinner in Port Moresby on Tuesday hosted by the women in National AIDS Council Secretariat (NACS) was a success.
The fundraising event sold out 25 tables worth K5,000 each and received contributions from more than 20 corporate clients and sold items on auction, totalling more than K125,000.
The charity event was an initiative by the women in NACS and aimed to raise funds for orphans, People Living with HIV (PLWHIV) and marginalised children.   
Its main objective is to support faith-based organisations and community-based organisations that provide life-skills training for orphans and PLWHIVs to be self-sufficient and to support 20 orphans by paying their school fees from elementary to primary.  
The group has drawn up a five-year strategic plan to address these issues.  
The women of NACS plan to make the event an annual one to give steady support to fund treatments, home-based care centres and education sponsorship for women and children who are HIV-affected. 
NACS director Wep Kanawi thanked the sponsors and said the money raised would go a long way to cater for the needs of children whose parents died of HIV.
He said Papua New Guinea had a high rate (0.93% ) in HIV prevalence in the Pacific and by continuously giving selfless support “we can create a much safer environment for those affected, especially the children whose parents have died of HIV/AIDS”.
The charity event was sponsored by Digicel PNG Ltd and Coca-Cola Amatil. a