It was a very busy day. From morning until an hour before the start of the event, all hands were on deck. Isaac, the Implementation Committee and local friends were busy setting up tents and chairs for the invited guests, the widows and widowers of Igosun, Kwara State Nigeria. We wanted our guests to be comfortable for the program. It was necessary to shade these folks from the burning sun and provide a place to sit. To step back and see the site prepared for the coming of our guests was captivating to say the least. The week before the event, bags and food were delivered to package up in preparation to pass out at the Widows Project launch. Bags of rice nicely lined the steps on the left side and bags of beans on the right. Purple…the color of royalty was in wide array.

Guests began arriving an hour early. They were eager to arrive and take their places in preparation for the program. The planned order of events:

All Widows/Widowers Take Their Seat
Invited Guests Take Their Seat
Opening Prayer – Chief Imam
Founder’s Address – Isaac Olayinka Olagunju
Distribution of Food Items
Response from Recipients
Closing Prayer – Igosun CAN President

All activities moved along smoothly. Such an amazing site to see each one of the guests as they were called to come and retrieve their food items. We gave 16.5 lbs (7.5 kg) of food to each of the 242 widows and widowers. They were so grateful. A heartwarming sight to see as they all departed the event, full of joy and gratitude, carrying their food items. Many of the recipients stopped by Ruth Ebunlomo Olagunju, our honoree, to greet her and thank her for the gifts they had received in her name. It was truly unbelievable! One thing we know, if this is what doing good feels like, we never want to stop!

A very special thanks to the Implementation Committee, our donors and especially Antioch Church – Woodstock, GA, USA for sponsoring our Widows Project for 2017. None of this would be possible without each of you!

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this; to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” James 1:27.