An NGO, Auxano Foundation on Sunday donated food items to two communities in Abuja to ease the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the people.

The communities are Dubaina, a suburb in Durumi, Area 3 and Gudunyi, another suburb in the Sunnyvale area, in Abuja.

The items donated include bags of rice, cartons of noodles, cartons of sachet tomatoes, cartons seasoning and cooked food.

Dr Grace Babajide-Feyisimi, one of the organisers of the programme said that the donation was part of the NGO’s contribution to the development of humanity, recognising the effect of COVID-19 on people.

She said that the donation to the communities was also inspired by the word of God, “which says we should love our neighbours like ourselves’’.

“These items we are donating today is a blessing from an anonymous someone who saw the previous work this NGO has done and decided to assist.

“This person invited us as an NGO and decided to give some cooked food and money to buy raw food to distribute to these communities, just to ease the blow of coronavirus pandemic,” she said.

Rev. Fr. Kenneth Agu, an Associate Parish Priest, Catholic Church, Ndakwo, FCT, who witnessed the donation, commended the NGO for the good work of reaching out to the poor.

“In every community, there are people who cannot afford to eat three times a day, so the donation is highly commendable on the part of the organisers, who thought it wise to reach out to these communities.

“I pray that God will continue to bless them,” Agu said.

Johnson Igoh, another Rev. Fr., who also witnessed the event, encouraged the NGO to keep up the good work no matter the quantity of items they gave.

Igoh said that the donation of the items would spur other well-meaning Nigerians to do the same.

Mr Philip Babawa, a Secretary to the Chief of Dubaina community, appreciated the donation from the NGO, adding that things were critical for people in the community, especially in this period of coronavirus.

According to Babawa, Dubaina community is in need of health centre where people can access basic healthcare services for their wellbeing.

“There is no health centre in this community; in a situation where there is an emergency that requires rushing a person to the hospital, how do we go about this? We want the government to come to our aid.

Babawa also used the medium to appeal for a standard basic school for children in the community.