A US$100,000 donation by Yamana Gold (YRI-T, AUY-N) will allow a folding orphanage in Ethiopia to stay afloat until 43 of its children can come to Canada to live with their new families.
The Addis Ababa orphanage was connected with prospective parents in Canada through the Cambridge, Ont.-based Kids Link International Adoption Agency. The agency, which operated as Imagine Adoption, declared bankruptcy on July 13.
Yamana Gold CEO Peter Marrone said the company made the donation after its vice-president of communications, Jodi Peake, who adopted an Ethiopian boy last year, informed him of the bankruptcy.
“My immediate reaction was the protection of the children, that the children were taken care of,” Marrone said.
The donated funds are expected to keep the orphanage operating long enough to allow the completion of the adoptions, says BDO Dunwoody, the trustee handling the orphanage.
Kids Link International, which managed adoptions for more than 400 Canadian families, is being investigated for fraud by the Waterloo Regional Police.
The agency has a nearly $400,000 operating shortfall and is likely to face an additional $800,000 in claims by families, according to bankruptcy documents.
Yamana Gold, which was founded in 2003, has properties and exploration projects in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Mexico and Central America. In addition to the recent donation, the company has also supported construction of a new seniors’ home in Mato Grosso, Brazil; built a new church, expanded a police station and supplied new uniforms for more than 700 students near the Bacilandia mine in Brazil; provided potable water for three communities in Chile; and equipped a local medical centre in Goias state, Brazil.
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