Merrill says, “I strongly believe that we come to this world with nothing, we leave with nothing, and the wealth that we acquire is with the cooperation, and commitment of many others. So, I decided that while I’m still around I would like to share that wealth with those who helped me get it, and that was why I created the Merrill J. Fernando Charitable Foundation in 1999.”

The Foundation is funded completely by Merrill J. Fernando, completes the success of the MJF Group in actively promoting the welfare of the Group’s staff & workers, as well as pursuing charitable projects with wider social objectives. The initial focus of the Foundation’s efforts have been ‘Mother and Child’ in the areas of nutrition, education, shelter and health in a sustainable manner.

In 2001 the Foundation assisted with the establishment of Sri Lanka’s first free Breast Health Centre with mammogram scanning and diagnosis facilities at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka. The centre has contributed significantly to awareness and prevention of Breast Cancer amongst women. The Foundation also spearheaded an ongoing project to install multimedia educational facilities on tea plantations for the children of staff & workers.

This Creche Development project has assisted 76 Child Development Centres on tea estates, upgrading the quality of care, teaching, providing nutrition, and improving their facilities. These model crèches provide a haven for over 2500 estate children who receive a midday meal and also an educational and recreational experience while their parents are at work The Foundation has also funded the construction of schools in Sri Lanka’s drought affected East, and the upliftment of communities via a microcredit scheme benefiting women. The Foundation has established hospitals on Dilmah Tea Estates, improving the infant mortality on estates. A long term project that commenced in 2005 will see the establishment of an outpatient ayurvedic treatment facility in Colombo and 10 free ayurvedic hospitals by 2010.

Other projects include partnerships with IUCN, PEACE and UNICEF towards improving the welfare of children, prevention of exploitation of women and empowering underprivileged persons through education. The Foundation’s Fisher Community project in Negombo, the Founder’s birthplace, is considered a model project. The MJF Charitable Foundation recognizes that for the welfare of the million people employed in the tea industry, the Ceylon Tea Industry must have a future. An industry service project aims to foster greater awareness of Ceylon and her great tea industry whilst preserving the heritage of the industry for future generations. The History of Tea project has built an online archive of 50,000 pages of literature relating to the formation and early history of the industry. Please visit www.historyofceylontea.com

Merrill J Fernando was born in May 1930, in Negombo, a fishing town on the coast of Sri Lanka. His father was a local trader, of very modest means. He began a life devoted to tea in 1950 as was one among the first group of Sri Lankans sent to Mincing Lane, London to be trained as a Tea Taster.

At the time the trade was monopolised by the British who were Sri Lanka’s former colonial rulers. Having trained in a UK tea company, Merrill returned to Sri Lanka and joined AF Jones & Co. a British owned tea business. Within four years, he rose to be its managing director, and subsequently bought the company over, along with another partner. Merrill was still in his twenties when he went on to establish his own venture, Merrill J. Fernando & Co., Ltd. In 1988 he realised a dream of over three decades when he launched his own brand, the first producer owned tea brand, offering consumers tea that was picked, perfected and packed in Sri Lanka and shipped direct. His perseverance in overcoming the post colonial dominance of Ceylon Tea by European interests, is widely acclaimed as an example to raw material producers around the world.

Merrill is today the Chairman of the MJF Group of companies which includes tea plantations, tea packing, printing and packaging, tea related leisure and property development. Please visit www.dilmahtea.com for details of Dilmah and the MJF Group.