Ride for Ceylon steps up to help battle against Covid-19

Ride4Ceylon is the coming together of a group of cyclists, who through time & effort, are addressing & assisting various social needs in Sri Lanka.

R4C, as it is fondly known, draws its riders from far & wide across the globe. Each with a common desire to improve the medical & social facilities of those in need in Sri Lanka.

R4C was primarily set up to collect funds to renovate & reignite the Green Memorial Hospital (GMH) in Manipay, Jaffna. The hospital is the oldest teaching hospital in South East Asia & was established in 1837.
It was the only medical teaching hospital in the country until the subsequent establishment of the Colombo Medical College.

The aim of R4C is to return the hospital to its former glory & a fully functioning institution in the country.

Today the GMH is gradually getting into shape after four successful consecutive charity cycle tours by R4C and many other fund raising initiatives.

R4C also supports other causes where possible, such as the provision of medical equipment to Peradeniya Teaching Hospital. Sporting equipment donated by the Lord’s Taverners in London & football equipment from a Sydney football club via our partners City Tatts was distributed nationwide. In addition, R4C raised funds to provide GMH with a desperately required ambulance. These are just a sample of the ways in which R4C has been helping communities nationwide.

And now during this global crisis, R4C has been donating food packs to the daily wage earners who have been left financially vulnerable at this time.

Whilst the government is providing relief to these communities, R4C has stepped forward to supplement these efforts.

This has all been made possible due to the huge generosity & kindness of donors. The Sri Lanka Police have assisted in identifying the genuine areas requiring help & facilitating the subsequent logistics.

Putting the distribution process into effect at such short notice was quite complex. However, the various bodies involved, pulled together to make it as efficient and smooth as possible. Lanka Sathosa helped with many of the practicalities, along with Texus group & a number of volunteers.

Getting the distribution done means to identify sources of affordability such as the very helpful Lanka Sathosa,  negotiate the best prices, getting the items to the central operations centre at Texas group and manning a bagging operation by volunteers Coca Cola were one of the first companies to show confidence in the ability of R4C to deliver this initiative. Brands such as Lanka Soy soon followed.Many other corporates also have helped with preferential pricing in these difficult times.

In a day we have managed 500 packs maximum - the equivalent of 4000kg in total weight, several lorry loads.

With most of R4C members residing overseas,  the team doing all the manual work & organising were less than 10 people.

R4C is delighted to be of assistance during these challenging times. We wish the country a speedy return to normal & prosperous & peaceful times ahead.

So far over 3500 ration packs have been distributed in Colombo and Subarbs and the Hanwella police division. Plans are in progress to distribute over 600 packs in the Hill Country and Kalutura district over the weekend.

Anyone interested in supporting this cause through donations, can do as follows;

Please donate via www.ride4ceylon.com

OR

You can deposit funds locally at:
INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES TRUST
Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC
Jaffna Branch 
Account number:1060111500

Please mention “CV19HILL” as reference when making a contribution.

We DO NOT accept cash or personal cheques.