Food Alms Foundation births in Lagos, supports less privileged, vulnerable

A non-governmental organisation, Food Alms Foundation has distributed food items to indigent and vulnerable persons in Lagos, in her quest to reduce hunger in the country.

The Co-founder, Food Alms Foundation, Mr. Ibrahim Oladapo Durosomo, who spoke during the outreach in the Surulere area of Lagos, where cash was also given to the less privileged, said the foundation plans to start skills acquisition programme to empower people to earn a living.

Durosomo said: “It is a humanitarian organisation to support the masses with raw food items, prepared food and cash. We hope to sustain this philanthropic gesture and extend it to other states of the federation in the future.”

He stressed that the foundation plans to start a skill acquisition programme to empower members of the community to become financially independent and employers of labour.

“In the long run, we want to get to a level that we will empower people but we have to start with this, then we advance to empowerment where we can train people on how to become financially independent to support their lives and go about their daily spending,” he said.

He cited the teachings of the Qur’an, saying the foundation extols the Islamic faith that echoes giving from the abundance of what one possesses to the less privileged, needy and the vulnerable in the society, irrespective of their religious or ideological leanings.

According to him, “we are Muslims and our holy book, the noble Qur’an tells us to do good for humanity, irrespective of their religion. Basically, Islam teaches us that the money given to you is not for you alone, but for the less privileged and the needy that surrounds you,” he said.

He called on the Federal Government to wake up to the plight of the citizens without the basic needs in regards to feeding, urging them to channel their humanitarian gestures through non-governmental organisations.

“We can see the situation of the country now. People are really suffering. Things are really hard due to the subsidy removal. That’s why we came up with this NGO to assist the poor with the limited resources at our disposal. We tasked ourselves and seek favours from friends and colleagues.”

We can’t do it alone, that’s why we are also calling on government at all levels to support us.

“Let the government at all levels draw a programme that will take food to people’s doors. Of course, I am aware the Lagos State government recently launched a food bank support initiative for NGOs in order to distribute food items to vulnerable people. They can reach out to more NGOs including ours, for effective and efficient disbursement,” he said.

Also, the Co-founder, Abduljelil Adeyemi, reiterated that the vision of the foundation is to alleviate hunger pang in the community, noting, “The NGO has the sole responsibility of feeding the people, as our slogan says action against hunger, goodness to humanity.”

“Food is one of the major aspects of human life and an integral part of their welfare, therefore, solving hunger problems is very essential,” he said.