Background

The idea of the Martha Logan Thomas Society (MLTS) was conceived after the death of Mrs Martha Ajumoke Thomas (nee Logan) on 9th March 1983, as a means of immortalising the memory of an outstanding member of the Logan and Thomas families, and of the wider Freetown community, who contributed selflessly to the welfare and upbringing of several children and young people from different backgrounds throughout the length and breadth of Sierra Leone.

Soon after her death, a Memorial Scholarship Fund was set up. In 1998, the Society was renamed the Martha Ajumoke Logan-Thomas Society, with the aim of extending help to persons with needs other than education. It is the belief of the family of Martha Logan Thomas that the memory of this admired and respected woman of kindness would be better preserved by setting up a more structured and efficient organisation that would assist needy and deprived children and young persons with their education, and to improve the lives and standard of living of destitute Sierra Leoneans through charitable gifts.

The MLTS Today

Since its inception, the Martha Logan Thomas Society has provided support for tuition and basic educational materials for over 100 students at eight different Secondary Schools in Sierra Leone. Many of them have gone into further study at higher educational establishments having benefited from the vital support that the MLTS has provided. One such example is of a former Head Boy at the Government Secondary Technical School, Sannoh Buakei,  who was supported by the MLTS in SS2 and SS3. In his own words: “I am so grateful that the Scholarship from the MLTS came at just the right time when I was experiencing some domestic problems. I was able to stay in school and pass the WASSCE and am now at the College of Medicine (USL).”

The MLTS has also provided support and assistance to a number of organisations including The Blind School, El Shaddai Orphanage, The Emergency Surgical Hospital at Goderich and Chriskovian Relief Fund.

To date, the Society has been funded solely by contributions from its members, most of whom belong to the family of Martha Logan-Thomas. The Society would like to do more, therefore in further developing its activities and its outreach, the MLTS seeks contributions from other well-wishers and the general public both to its Scholarship Fund and its general charitable fund.

A fundraising effort in February 2010 through the birthday celebration of one of the founders of the Society resulted in donations to the Society totalling over Le 6 million. The members of the MLTS take this opportunity to thank all those who gave generously. It is our hope that through the Annual Thanksgiving Service of the Society, more funds will be raised to enable the Society to support more students with school tuition fees, books and other materials, as well as make our usual charitable contributions to the work of other organisations.

More about the Society:

Objectives of the Society
About Martha Logan Thomas