By Joy Essien, Contributing Editor, Lagos Metropolitan.
On Saturday, 29th November, 2025, Gratitude Outreach, set out to reach a specific community in Abuja.
Gratitude outreach is an initiative under the Cause A Smile Initiative, a registered NGO in Nigeria. The Gratitude Outreach is designed to meet some of the dire needs of communities providing Food, Clothing and Medical Care for beneficiaries. It’s been 5 years of putting a smile on the faces of Nigerians.
The need to reach out to the community was out of an identified rise in the cost of living in Nigeria and poverty increase in the nation. It’s been discovered that a lot of Nigerians cannnot afford basic medical care and good food. So this initiative was created to provide food for the Season for a family of 5 persons. The medical team tested, treated and provided medications for beneficiaries.
For now, it is once every year. However, there are plans to make it more frequent because the past one showed the need for that. People are hungry and it has become difficult for people to get basic medical care.
With a growing number of 300 volunteers, Gratitude Outreach reaches beneficiaries through food, Clothing and Medical Care. This year, 1, 987 beneficiaries were reached. Locations covered from inception in Abuja include the Garki and the Lugbe communities.
Recipients have been very happy. Location used this year was same as last year and recipients who were expectant were already waiting at the venue before the team arrived. The outreach has been largely successful with more efforts being channeled to increasing supplies in the nearest future.
Gratitude Outreach runs an efficient organisation that comprises various departments and these departments were fully on ground on Saturday, manned by professionals as well as volunteers. From Registration department to Food, Pharmacy, Welfare, Counseling and Medicals.
Below are statistics from the outing:
Registered and attended to 1, 987 who received foods and clothes.
352 souls were saved.
405 received the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
468 – were attended to by the Medical team.
200 glasses with medication were given out.
7 minor surgeries.
Their efforts are laudable and commendable. We can only have a safe and functional community when the least amongst us have their basic needs met.
