A St. Mary's Old Girls Association (S.M.O.G.A) team conducting charitable works to celebrate the school’s anniversary brought Christmas early to children at the national hospital.

The S.M.O.G.A. reunion group’s Team 2 paid a visit to the children’s ward and also made a $1000 donation to the mother of ‘Baby Elijah’ towards covering the treatment costs of the infant in need of a life-saving operation overseas.

The donations are part of the group's charity work to mark 65 years since the school was established. The team donated 30 pillows, 30 sheets, 30 pillowcases, and toys for the children at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital at Motootua on Sunday evening.

After presenting the donations to the nurses looking after the pediatric ward, the group had visited Elijah Asomaliu.

Baby Elijah who was born in February this year was diagnosed with jaundice at just one-month-old, a yellowing of the eyes that is not uncommon amongst infants and can be caused by overly high levels of the yellow-orange bile pigment bilirubin.

He was then later diagnosed as having 'biliary atresia' - or a blockage in the tubes ducts that transport bile from the liver to the gallbladder leading to sleepless nights and constant family visits to the hospital.

The rate of his liver failure has now reached 80 per cent meaning his prognosis is very poor and leaving him in need of a transplant as soon as possible.

The team captain for Team 2, Regina Arabella Lemisio presented the donation of $1000 to Baby Elijah and his mother Victoria Lo Tam Asomaliu.

"I know that your prayers will heal Elijah," Mrs. Asomaliu told members of Team 2 on Sunday evening.

"We do not have any gold to return your kindness and your support. You all want Elijah to be healed, that is what we also want."

An emotional Mrs. Asomaliu said that she knows Elijah will break the curse of the disease that he is suffering from.

"The gift that you have given for Elijah, may God bless your families, especially the children and the company or the school.

"We do not have any Gold [...] to return your kindness to us. God bless you and your families, especially your group."

In an interview with the Samoa Observer on Sunday evening, Ms. Lemisio stated that with Christmas around the corner, they wanted to do something for the children at the hospital.

"With our 65th-anniversary celebration we had to do a charity work and we have ten teams so most of the teams have gone to do community work so here was an area where we saw that will be good for us especially with the news of baby Elijah so, therefore, we chose here, the pediatric ward," she said.

"And we wanted to do a donation to remember the [65th anniversary] so therefore we have donated 30 pillowcases, 30 pillows and 30 sheets, and Christmas gifts for the kids and we have donated [$1000] for baby Elijah."

Ms. Lemisio said that the reason they had donated to baby Elijah as he is in need of assistance, and if he is healed, will be another remembrance for their 65th anniversary.

She added that presenting the assistance to baby Elijah was very emotional where the team members were sad but also happy as they were honored to be able to help him during the school's 65th-anniversary celebration.

"We would like to thank the people that have helped us," she said