January 28th 2025 was a memorable day at the Lagos Food Bank warehouse in Mangoro, Ikeja, where over 200 beneficiaries of the Temporary Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) received food boxes, tagged “Box Of Love For A Family,” containing staple foods and personal care items to improve food security affecting low-income households from underserved communities across Lagos.
This partnership between the Lagos Food Bank Initiative, Stephen Akintayo Foundation and Gtext Holdings resonated hope, igniting joy evident on the faces of the beneficiaries and volunteers in attendance. This initiative was put together to celebrate the birthday of an icon and friend of the Food Bank, Dr. Stephen Akintayo, the founder of Gtext Holdings and other Gtext subsidiaries, whose active participation was a show of humility, and nothing short of inspiring.
To kick off the activities of the day, the Executive Director/Founder of Lagos Food Bank Initiative, Dr. Michael Sunbola, appreciated the partner of the day for his support over the years, having marked his birthday in previous years with the Food Bank in similar fashion. Dr. Michael highlighted the impact of the partner’s benevolence through his foundation to help younger generations with bright minds excel in their respective career paths. He also acknowledged the unwavering support of the Food Bank volunteers who attended the outreach in good numbers to assist in the distribution activities. He rounded up his flawless speech by commending the Food Bank team for their commitment and hard work in ensuring a well-organized outreach.
Attendees of the outreach were inspired and motivated to think more of others and less of themselves as the celebrant and partner of the day gave a heartwarming speech, encompassing a brief account of his start-up days and his desire to help others, which was a major drive to his numerous successful ventures as a serial entrepreneur. Apart from giving out food boxes along with tokens to families, Dr. Stephen Akintayo also allocated slots to his foundation’s grants initiative to Food Bank volunteers, for Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) where applicants have a chance of receiving grants worth over $5,000 to $1,000,000. He appreciated their spirit of volunteerism and encouraged them to celebrate themselves for the choice of donating their time and skills to community development.
The impactful outreach ended in unique style, with the partner dancing with the beneficiaries and taking pictures with volunteers, a show of care and support for the happiness and wellbeing of communities. Testimonials from some of the beneficiaries showed the support they received was timely as they expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the partner and the Food Bank.