Projects

On 31 December 2019, a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause, in the city of Wuhan, Hubei province in China, was reported to the World Health Organisation. In January 2020, a previously unknown new virus was identified, subsequently named the 2019 novel coronavirus, and samples obtained from cases and analysis of the virus’ genetics indicated that this was the cause of the outbreak. This novel coronavirus was named Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) by WHO in February 2020. The virus is referred to as SARS-CoV-2 and the associated disease is COVID-19.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus a pandemic. A pandemic is defined as “occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population.” This pandemic not only affected live like we knew, but also caused thousands to lose jobs and means of livelihood. Hence, feeding, clothing and maintaining statutory payments became difficult.

The leadership of Harvesters  announced several relief interventions to aid the fight against the novel Coronavirus pandemic, as well as support vulnerable members of the public.

In a statement, the Founder, Bolaji Idowu announced that the Harvesters COVID-19 response project is the church’s coordinated social initiative to help people in Lagos State, Nigeria deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and the attendant hardship it has caused many.

By October 2020, the church had distributed over 300,000 meals to over 7,000 unique families under its “Harvesters Food Bank” programme across multiple locations in Lagos.

Also,  the church registered individuals who may not benefit from the feeding programme for its cash donation of ₦2,500; with the sole aim being to reach 1000 people with this cash relief initiative.

Other planned humanitarian efforts during the pandemic include the repurposing of the campus at Anthony in Lagos as an isolation centre and the “A Loaf Can Make a Difference” initiative aimed at encouraging members of the public to reach out and care for their neighbours during these difficult times.

In the words of the Bolaji Idowu, “at Harvesters, we’re not just a church. We’re community builders with a message of hope. As the lockdown in our cities continues, we understand the challenges this has caused many vulnerable people in our society and because we care, we have made and will continue to make critical interventions to help alleviate these challenges”