JumokeCares Foundation Fetes with 500 Families, Donates foodstuffs

Gilbert Ekugbe

A Non-Governmental Organisation, (NGO), JumokeCares Foundation has celebrated the yuletide season donating foodstuffs to over 500 families in Lagos.

Indeed, the NGO said the move was to cushion the effect of the Covid 19 pandemic on impoverished Nigerians while also putting smiles on the faces of Nigerians during the festive season.

The ‘shop4Free’ food distribution was held in Agbado, Lagos state in furtherance of the NGO’s vision to provide welfare support, health, and livelihood to deprived elderly people, women, and children across remote communities.

The founder of the foundation, Jumoke Kolawole said the ‘Shop4Free’ event was done to put smiles on the faces of the less privileged in the society, especially those that won’t be able to afford to celebrate Christmas.

She said, ‘’We decided to provide foodstuffs to the people as the economic situation in the country is unbearable for so many people, and it is of concern to us when some persons cannot afford to feed themselves. Putting a smile on the faces of the people is what we want to achieve with this and so far, so good, our aim is being achieved with the glow on the faces of the beneficiaries’’.

JumokeCares Foundation is a sister organization of Help to The Ageing Foundation (HAF) and so far, both have reached over 13,000 beneficiaries with welfare support, empowerment projects, food drive, free medical check-ups, treatments, scans, administered drugs, eye tests, corrective eyewear/glasses provision. The team does medical screenings to treat any elderly-related health conditions, including cases of depression due to abandonment.

Kolawole said caring for humanity was what motivated her to start the NGO since her University days in 2004, as she asserted that, ‘’there is a kind of satisfaction I get after any of our interventions and that’s an immense feeling for me’’.

She said running HAF feels like an act of self-satisfaction, and the feel of being a part of society’s development is always a great feeling.

Project Coordinator Adeola Oyeshola said they decided to provide foodstuffs to the residents to mitigate their economic situations and put a smile on their faces, which is the message of the season. Though the foundation is being financed by the founder and volunteers, she said they are open to receive support from corporate organisations and the government to spread their message of hope nationwide.

Aside from providing foodstuffs to the people, the foundation also runs routine medical check-ups to people in remote areas through its volunteer medical practitioners – Doctors, Nurses, Pharmacists, Therapists, and Optometrists-; and helps people with Business startups through different empowerment initiatives – setting them up and boosting their existing businesses for sustainability.

A beneficiary, Mrs. Adewale Balogun could not hide her joy as she was full of praise to the foundation. She said her family is sure to have a swell festive period with the foodstuffs she was gifted. She prays the foundation continues to go higher. She wants corporate organisations and the government to reach out to the foundation to reach more persons in remote areas.