A team of Medical students of the University of Cape Coast have won the ‘2018 Community Service Award’ with a seed capital of GH¢10,000.00 at the 2018 National Youth Volunteerism and Patriotism Conference and Awards.

The award scheme, initiated by the Osei-Kusi Foundation (OKF) and Selfless for Africa was aimed at providing financial support to students to help them undertake developmental projects in deprived communities.

The UCC Medical students with the code name “Coats and Scrubs” at the competition beat seven teams from other tertiary institutions at the awards held at the Accra International Conference Centre in Accra on Friday on the theme: “Accelerating National Development through Volunteerism”.

Team Coats and Scrubs won the community project, which was to transform a community called Assin Denoe in the Central Region to get access to potablel water, toilet facilities, schools and a health post community and other projects to better the lives of the community members.

Dr Kofi Osei-Kusi, the Executive President of Osei-Kusi Foundation said the gesture was OKF’s widow’s mite to encourage young people to cultivate the spirit of volunteerism, community service and patriotism.

He announced that OKF wasraising its grant for the Community Service Award from GH¢10,000 over the years, to GH¢30,000 from next year.

Dr Osei-Kusi charged the youth to make volunteerism a priority, prioritize service to humanity, and encouraged them to pursue productive passions.

Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Minister of Education in a speech read on his behalf commended the efforts of the Osei-Kusi Foundation and its partners for their enormous efforts in investing in the youth and helping to rekindle in them the spirit of volunteerism and patriotism.

“You are an embodiment of giving back to society and the less fortunate, and I am left in no doubt that the many young lives you have touched will in turn be inspired to touch other lives’’, he said.

The Education Minister said a country’s development agenda is enhanced when its citizens were committed to its welfare and were unwavering in their patriotism.

He therefore added that: “We must as a nation continue to inspire our young people to realize that volunteering their time for the good of their community is noble virtue to aspire to, especially in this century when growing consumerism and materialism especially among young people threaten the social fabric in many communities across the world”.

He expressed the Ministry’s commitment to developing strategic partnership with groups such as the Ose-Kusi Foundation in order to promote volunteering as a vital component of nation-building.

Ms Adjoa Boatemaa Bonsu, a member of the team in an interview with the Ghana News Agency expressed gratitude to God, the Osei-Kusi Foundation and all individuals who have been of enormous help.

Participation in the awards scheme is open to tertiary students across the country. Groups of three to five tertiary students identify a deprived community in Ghana and come up with an innovative proposal to address some of the needs of the youth in that community.

A winner is chosen at a grand finale and award ceremony by a panel of distinguished Judges and awarded with a cash prize to implement the project.

The Osei-Kusi Foundation is an award-winning foundation that is helping to transform the lives of millions of young people in Africa by providing them with tools, resources and training they need to make a global impact.