As the cost of living continues to rise, families in low-income areas face significant challenges in meeting basic household necessities, not to mention covering school fees and ensuring their young ones have access to school meals. This situation makes it increasingly difficult for children to stay in school and concentrate on their studies. Therefore, initiating a school feeding program is crucial for the Lagos Food Bank to address hunger, malnutrition, and poverty in underprivileged communities.
On the 26th of March 2024, the food bank teamed up with Lekki Gardens for a dynamic partnership to cater to food insecure children in low-income primary and secondary schools by providing them with nutritious hot meals and learning materials through the Education Enhancement Intervention for Food Insecure Students (EDUFOOD) program.
In full participation of the outreach program were representatives of the partner organization who also engaged in corporate volunteering activities for the day. Addressing those present for the outreach, Mr. Oluwole, the Head of Marketing Operations of Lekki Gardens, expressed his delight at being able to support the school-feeding initiative of the food bank by providing hot meals for young students, highlighting its importance as a way of ensuring brighter futures for children with great potentials.
“The need to feed food insecure students in low-cost schools can never be overemphasized,” was the words of the Executive Director/Founder of Lagos Food Bank Initiative, Dr. Michael Sunbola, who cited the importance as not only a way of encouraging their educational journey and ensuring their literacy, but also as a way of helping their respective parents use their limited resources for more pressing needs. He also appreciated the partners of the day for their heartfelt kindness and generosity to humanity.
Taking place in the premises of the schools where the hot meals were served, the outreach experienced a good number of students catered for, putting endless smiles on their young faces as they enjoyed their nutritious hot meals.