FoodCo Foundation, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) affiliate of FoodCo Nigeria Limited, has distributed care packages, comprising food items and essential supplies, to orphanages, widows as well as low-income households in Lagos and Ibadan.

The gesture comes on the heels of an on-going initiative by the Foundation to provide daily refreshments  for personnel of the Oyo State COVID-19 Emergency Response Team as well as a recent donation of medical equipment to the University Teaching Hospital, (UCH) Ibadan.

Speaking on the motivation behind the donations, Ade Sun-Basorun, Chief Executive Officer, FoodCo Nigeria Limited and a Trustee of the Foundation, said: “With the effects of the COVID-19 disease rippling across various segments of society, low income households have been particularly hit as many have had their source of livelihoods disrupted.

The United Nations estimates that over 1.6 billion people working in the informal sector where this group largely belongs, and which represents over half of the global workforce, have lost their source of livelihoods since the pandemic started. It is our intention, therefore, to support as many people as we can within the category in line with the overall mission of lessening casualties from the pandemic.

“Also, we wish to use the opportunity of this donation to call attention to another vulnerable group, which is, the children in orphanages. Understandably, the economic impact of the pandemic has affected the flow of goodwill donations to them. While we acknowledge that these are challenges times, we will like to emphasize that the children need our support now, more than ever. We therefore appeal to corporate bodies and kind-hearted individuals who are able, to spare the much they can, to support these little ones.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Auto firms pull resources to save lives

“We appreciate the efforts of the Oyo State COVID-19 Emergency Response Team who, like their counterparts across the country and globally, continue to do outstanding work at the frontlines, which informed our decision to supply them with daily refreshments. We thank you for the hard work and sacrifice you put in to ensure that this disease is contained so that we all can return to normalcy as soon as possible,” he added.

Over 600 households in Elesan and Lafiaji, Eti-Osa Local Government Areas, in Lagos and Oke-Ado, Idi-Ishin and Odo-Ona in Ibadan, Oyo State, were reached by the initaitive.

Some of the beneficiaries of the FoodCo COVID-19 care packages include Tabitha Homes and Living World Mission Children’s Home orphanages as well as widows from Dabira Women’s Network.

Vanguard