Group fetes 3, 000 less privileged, says no children should go hungry

Over 3,000 children of Eputu community, in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State, have benefitted from the largesse of an NGO, Kingdom Wealth Mandate, which gave out foodstuffs in the spirit of the season.

The body, which is committed to ensuring that every child in Africa has equal access to good nutrition, quality education and an environment that fosters growth, is focused on children who are from very low-income families whose parents are unable to provide these three basic needs adequately.

In a chat with The Guardian, Kingdom Commonwealth Mandate’s founder, Harrison Bolorunfe, said the goal of the organisation is to promote equality.

“We are passionate and driven by the goal of seeing an Africa, where no child has to stay back at home instead of being in school, or go to bed hungry, due to the lack of resources to meet these basic needs. It is our responsibility, all of us as Nigerians, to provide for children.”

Speaking on how they kick-started the intervention programmes, Bolorunfe said in 2012, the deplorable condition of a government school opposite his office in Lagos where half the students, about 500, sat on the floor, made him embark on the initiative as he had realised that other schools may be having similar challenges.

He added that the food intervention initiative was born in 2018 when he picked 250 children as beneficiaries but more than 500 later turned up. The philanthropist said the group is looking toward replicating the programme in all the local governments in Lagos.

“We want to cover the whole of Lagos and do this every two or three months. We want to do Epe by February next year, then Ikorodu in April, before we go to Badagry, Ajegunle and Shomolu. If all of us do what is needful, there will be no child in Lagos that will go to be hungry,” he said.

Bolorunfe stated that the group is set to provide food banks at various locations, to meet the nutritional needs of children and ensure no child is malnourished or goes to bed hungry. In addition, they intend to set up an open food booth periodically in communities that are populated with indigent families, where children can come to eat freely.

He said they are giving out their contact information and addresses to children to ensure that they or their parents can call at any time as regards their needs.

Bolorunfe advised wealthy individuals and corporate bodies to do what they can to touch the lives of children.

Titilayo Adeyemi, a mother, thanked the organization for the gesture and urged others to emulate them.