By Dickson Omobola

The Irede Foundation, weekend held a walk to solicit support for persons with disabilities, PWDs, saying they deserve life’s best.

The walk, which kicked off from Ribadu Road to Falomo, Ikoyi, was themed “A Walk for Inclusion.”

The Foundation said about 400 children need limbs, explaining that it hopes to give 200 of the children limbs in 2023.

Chairman, Irede Foundation, Mr. Kunle Akinkugbe, noted that they would need over $500,000 to achieve its goal.

“We take them right through till they are young adults. There is also the problem of going to school and if they don’t have the limbs, it is not easy for them. So, when they acquire the limbs, we have to assist them in getting back to school. We also assist the families  because there is pressure on them, so we try to ensure that the support and advocacy are sustained,” he said.

Akinkugbe, who said Irede provided 100 limbs for children last year, added that it has provided 361 limbs over the past 11 years.

“We don’t stop at providing the limbs for the children. We ensure that we provide them the basis for getting back into the mainstream so that they don’t miss out on anything that their abled peers are doing.

“We are focused on children in Nigeria today because that is where we can operate most effectively at the moment. Right now, we are getting support from outside Nigeria to provide limbs for children in Nigeria.”

On her part, Founder/Executive Director, Irede Foundation, Mrs. Crystal Chigbu, said that contributors can “Give a Limb Through the Power of Three campaign”.

“The first thing that we want you to do is to give us N3000 for three months. After that, you will call three of your friends to do exactly the same thing. If you are here today and you have always wanted to give a limb, all you need to do is to scan our barcode.

“You will have the opportunity to give three thousand Naira, and we will deduct the same amount for another two months. You will also get emails from us where you can suggest to your friends that you would want to join you on this campaign.”