2021 Give Back- Nigeria (Lagos Food Bank Initiative)-EDUFOOD

Since our 1st year in business we "Give Back" every year to a charity that involves food and /or children and this year is no different. Not even a pandemic will change our commitment to serve. I recently travelled to Lagos Nigeria, Africa as a volunteer to do just that with the Lagos Food Bank Initiative (LFBI)  

This is the 1st Food Bank in Nigeria and it currently runs 6 programs within the organization. The goal is to become a partner, Diva Designs Hair Studio plans on continuing to aid, donate and spread awareness to this cause long after returning home. If you ever wanted to help/donate to an organization dedicated to change and making a real impact LFBI is it https://lagosfoodbank.org/

As a volunteer I was blessed to join 2 programs outreach and on this day I set out with the (EDUFOOD) Education Enhancement Intervention for Food Insecure Students, is a program that seeks to improve the nutritional status and health of food insecure students. It is also geared towards increasing school attendance, reducing dropout rates and increasing the children’s ability to concentrate and comprehend in class. This program will also benefit the children’s care-givers/families by enabling them save money meant for the children’s school feeding. It seeks to ensure that the target beneficiaries have access to sufficient food and nutrient intake for physical growth, cognitive development, and general wellbeing.

The Vision: To solve the problem of hunger leading to malnutrition and poor education attainment in Low-cost private schools situated in low-income communities in Lagos state.

The Mission: To provide nutritious meals during school hours to food insecure children in low-cost private primary and secondary schools in low-income communities situated in Lagos state.

TARGET BENEFICIARIES

  • Food insecure primary children in low-cost private schools.
  • Undernourished children in low-cost private schools.

EDUFOOD Goals and Objectives are:

Goal 1: To reduce food insecurity levels among school children.
Objective: To ensure constant supply of food items to food insecure school children.

Goal 2: To prevent and correct malnutrition problems among school children.
Objectives:
– To provide nutritious meals to food insecure school children.
– To increase school and community involvement in nutrition education activities.

Goal 3: To increase school attendance in the communities.
Objectives: – To increase enrollment of the girl child into schools.
– To reduce absenteeism and dropout rates of school children due to hunger.

Goal 4: To Increase school children’s cognitive development, concentration and assimilation in class.

Goal 5: To relieve parents/caregivers of school food expenses which helps them save money.

Goal 6: To stimulate local agricultural production and boost the income of farmers by creating viable and ready market via the school feeding program. are;

The Outcomes:
At the end of this program, we will achieve the following:

  • School children will have access to good and quality food.
  • Increase in school enrollment and attendance.
  • To increase the cognitive development, concentration and assimilation of food insecure children in class.
  • Parents and caregivers of these children will save money meant for the children’s school meal and use it for other expense in the home.
  • End malnutrition among school children by providing nutritious meals to them.
  • Progress so far: We currently have 18 schools enrolled into the program and we feed over 3000 children from these schools 3 times a week. We feed students directly with the help of our volunteers and also through partner NGOs and School Food Vendors. And we have served over 50,000 meals

2 comments

  • Finished your book just now – love it – it is beautifully written and so wise, informative, inspirational and fun to read. I underlined a # of key points to remember. I did follow my passion – I always wanted to be a prof and a writer – since I was 10. And I had a # of set backs usually caused by me and a # of fortunate breaks. What you set out is a brilliant clear doable route to do what you want. Congratulations on a wonderful work.

    Shannon Bell
  • EDUFOOD is a fantastic initiative; what a great thing for “Give Back” to do and during Covid.

    Shannon Bell

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