“Lagos Food Bank has done so much for us,” was the remark of Mrs. Akanji, a widow and beneficiary of the foodbank living in Dustbin Estate, Ajegunle Community, where the last community-based outreach took place to mitigate the effect of subsidy removal in vulnerable communities across Lagos State by Lagos Food Bank.

Dustbin Estate is a slum of shanties erected on planks over heaps of refuse. Formerly a swamp, the waters were continuously filled with the city’s waste until now. Poor hygiene and sanitation, lack of infrastructure and general hazards of being next to a canal drain for waste and floodwaters in Ajegunle make it notorious for being inhabited by the most vulnerable and impoverished inhabitants of the city of Lagos.

On the 30th of September 2023, Lagos Food Bank Initiative partnered with the Global Food Banking Network (GFN) for a community outreach that ensured vulnerable families living in Ajegunle axis of Lagos received food items and personal care materials capable of sustaining a family of 5 for 4 – 5 weeks, to help ease the economic situation caused by the removal of subsidy.

The founder of the food bank, Dr. Michael Sunbola, in his speech expressed his profound gratitude the partners of the day and volunteers for their unwavering support in the fight to end hunger in society, especially in times of economic hardship. He also noted the 3-month subsidy intervention program had impacted the lives of hundreds of families which was the goal of the program.

The families not only received food boxes but were also recipients of clothing items from the Cloth Banking Nigeria program of the food bank. The outreach was a huge success, marked by great excitement evident on the faces of the beneficiaries of Dustbin Estate in Ajegunle Community, and volunteers who showed up in great numbers to participate in the distribution of the boxes of hope.