By CHUSA SICHONE –

.Chimese

THE Zambia Air Force (ZAF) yesterday celebrated the New Year by donating food hampers to the Cheshire Homes Society of Zambia Chawama Township branch, with the deputy acting Air Commander Kapotwe Chintu urging the officers not to tire in assisting the needy.
Brigadier-General Chintu said the ZAF Commander Eric Chimese was for the idea of his officers helping the needy and that was why he had been urging them to donate things like clothes to the less privileged in society and to institutions like Cheshire Homes Society of Zambia.
Gen Chintu said it was pity that the sense of community service among some ZAF personnel had gone down and that was why they were being encouraged to rekindle such goodwill gestures.
He said a few personnel had responded to the call to donate to the needy but that more were being encouraged to come on board in any way they could.
“As Air Force, we are proud to be associated with your Home and we would like to see that this partnership is strengthened,” Gen Chintu said.
Gen Chintu also pledged K1,000 to Cheshire Homes, which he said the institution would decide where it would be used.
Cheshire Homes chairperson Joseph Ngoma said the institution looked after the aged and underprivileged children and relied on well-wishers to keep it going, hence donations such as that from ZAF, which included bags of mealie meal, were highly appreciated.
Mr Ngoma said Cheshire Homes Chawama consumed one 25 kilogramme bag of mealie meal a day because it fed not only those under its care but even others from the surrounding community who visited and needed a meal.
Cheshire Homes sister-in-charge Judith Bozek received the donation and was also grateful for the gesture.