A total of 4,000 persons in Lagos state have benefitted from
a food bank launched by The Elevation Church.
The church has also volunteered its 1,000 and 650-capacity
buildings in Maryland and Lekki to the Lagos state government to be used as
isolation and testing centres.
The food bank is part of the church’s efforts to cushion the
negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on job availability in the state.
A statement issued on Friday by Chinny Ugoji, media officer
of the church, noted that “the ability of many in the informal sector/daily
wage earners to provide food for themselves and their family has been greatly
hindered by the virus,” and as a result, the church launched the initiative
which has fed 4,000 indigent persons, while plans to cater for an additional
2,000 people is already underway.
The food bank, which is set up by Pistis Foundation, TEC’s
social intervention arm, offered relief packs containing items such as rice,
beans, garri, tinned tomatoes, milk, sugar and oil.
“These provisions given to beneficiaries to help feed in
these critical times, when economic activities have stalled, have been greatly
received by the recipients,” it read.
“Amongst prayers and words of sincere gratitude to the
church, some beneficiaries revealed that the food packs received were the only
hope of food as former breadwinners suddenly found themselves without a source
of livelihood this period.
“Upon launch of the food bank, the Foundation established a
methodology in assessing and prioritising delivery of materials to the most
affected families. The beneficiaries are selected only after a request has been
placed to the call centre or other channels set up for the purpose of
processing applications. After a beneficiary is selected, the relief pack is
delivered directly them in partnership with GIG logistics.”
Speaking on the initiative, Godman Akinlabi, lead pastor of
TEC, said one of the cardinal objectives of the church is to make practical
impact in people’s lives.
“From our E200 programme designed to support the most
financially challenged at the bottom of the socioeconomic pyramid, to our Ubomi
Medical/Surgical Outreach to the medically underserved, and our Pistis
Foundation driving several other people-centric initiatives, we have embedded
within our DNA, an ingrained culture of practically uplifting lives,” he said.
Pistis Foundation and the church’s team of medical
professionals are also providing free medical interventions at no cost to the
beneficiaries; this is done in partnership with St. Kizito’s Clinic, Lekki and
Chion Hospital, Maryland, Lagos.
TEC has also partnered with the Institute of Family
Engineering and Development to provide free psychological counselling services
to “people who require support or a listening ear at this time”, while also
deploying more phone lines for church counselling services.
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com