Interviewing Stan Leahy, General Manager of Zenag Chicken, about the reasons behind his company’s decision to support Femili PNG’s work, you immediately feel his passion for the region’s development.
Although with his Australian heritage, Stan may not look like a local, with several generations of his family calling Lae home his pride in being part of the local community is clear.
Zenag approached Femili PNG’s Lae Case Management Centre (CMC) recently offering to donate one carton of eggs (approximately 108 eggs) each fortnight for the CMC to distribute to clients.
Stan acknowledged that it was his sister’s idea.
“She volunteered with the Salvation Army here in Lae and she heard about the CMC through her work with them.”
Sam said that he and his sister chose the CMC together as “the best placed organisation to distribute the eggs on a needs basis”.
“The CMC has access to clients at different local safe houses, not just the Salvation Army one, and also the Family Support Centre at the hospital… we wanted our eggs to have the biggest possible impact and to reach the most people we can.”
For Stan’s family, this kind of community involvement is not new.
“My mother’s father was a real community man, he donated the building now used by the Salvation Army and as a child I used to do boiled egg runs, giving boiled eggs to the Salvation Army and other community groups.”
Stan was happy to be bringing his family’s tradition of support alive again and was very positive about future corporate involvement from other businesses in the Lae community.
“I think most companies in PNG, particularly in Lae, would be happy to donate to community organisations as long as the process is transparent,” he said.
Femili PNG is very grateful for Zenag’s donation, with the eggs already being dispersed to clients. It hopes to continue to build opportunities to involve PNG’s corporate sector in the work of the CMC.
If you or your organisation would like to support Femili PNG’s work, contact the team at [email protected]. You can read more about our partners and supporters here.
-Sarah James
