From the onset of the COVID-19 lockdown directive in Lagos, the Lagos Hub of the Global Shapers Community has been raising funds to provide relief to some of the most vulnerable people in the state. As well as being a health crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on the livelihoods of some of the poorest in the population, incapacitating many from being able to provide even the most basic of necessities for their families.

In partnership with Arthouse Contemporary and external donations, we have raised over 1 Million Naira to facilitate the distribution of care packages to at-risk communities. Arthouse Contemporary played an instrumental role in our fundraising effort, the organisation has held a series of auctions in which the full proceeds of the pieces sold were donated to our food distribution initiative.

These funds have been used to create relief packages containing food, non-perishables and reusable masks that were, in the first phase, distributed to the widows displaced from the Otodo Game Slum. In partnership with the Isodokan Foundation and Give Back Nigeria, many of these women who have now moved to Ikota were beneficiaries of these materials at this exceptional time.