At the onset of the dreadful COVID-19 pandemic, 3M immediately reached out to United Way Greater Nigeria (UWGN) seeking ways to bring relief to the underserved in our local communities.
3M is a diversified multinational corporation manufacturing a plethora of products including much-needed PPEs. 3M has offices all over the world, including Nigerian cities.
United Way Greater Nigeria states that over 10,000 people have benefited from a recently completed food distribution program in Rivers, Abia, and FCT Abuja, all powered by 3M’s giving back stance. Care packages included staple food items such as rice, garri, noodles, tomato paste, and other cooking ingredients such as vegetable oil – each package is enough to feed a family.
Kathryn Ani-Otoibhi, UWGN Program Manager, says community development is at the center of the relationship between UWGN and 3M.
“In previous months, through our partnership with 3M, we successfully distributed care packages to underserved communities in Lagos as a first stop, with a view to extending our reach into other states of the federation.
“Now, similar distributions have also been successfully concluded in Rivers, Abia, and FCT Abuja, also with the support of three esteemed NGO partners whose community mapping practices were fundamental,” she added.
According to the UWGN spokesperson, We are grateful for 3M’s generous donation and unflinching support, which has enabled us to provide for the most vulnerable families and individuals negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic; we understand how critical food sustenance is to alleviating suffering and diseases such as malnutrition.
“Some of the communities reached include Oyigbo (Rivers), Idima-Abam (Abia), and Waru (Abuja) among many others.”
UWGN also wishes to thank its teeming volunteers and local NGO partners, including Auxano Foundation for Empowerment and Development (AFED) in Abuja, Sustainable Centre for Rural Development and Urban Regeneration (SDC) in Rivers, and the Institute for Humanitarian Studies & Social Development (IHSD) in Abia.
“We appreciate your unwavering support and look forward to more opportunities to enrich more lives during these precarious times. We were able to make such a positive impact effectively in these communities thanks to your collaboration.”
