Ramadan: Zakat foundation reaches out to widows in Kwara

Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation has distributed cash and groceries to dozens of widows in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, to enable them observe the ongoing Ramadan with a sense of belonging.

Items distributed include 42 bags of rice, beans, garri, semovita and vegetable oil worth N10,000 and additional N5,000 cash for each of the beneficiaries.

The foundation’s state coordinator (female), Hajia Bashirat Abdulraheem, said the gesture was to ease the burdens of the widows during the holy months.

She called on well-todo Muslims to donate to the foundation to enable it reach more widows and orphans.

“The target is four hundred widows this year but we are starting with this number based on the resources at our disposal. We have expended about N600,000 so far and hope to do more as the resources flows in,” she added.

The state coordinator of the foundation, Dr Mukhtar Thani, said the programme was not only to assist the less privilege in the society, but also to reduce the burden on the government in the social contract with the citizen.

One of the beneficiaries and a mother of three, Mrs Asia Folashade Adebayo, thanked the foundation for the gesture and called on well-meaning Nigerians to support the foundation’s activities while also praying for management.

“When we started the fasting, there was nothing that we would use for the Ramadan. I lost my husband two years ago. It was a boy in my community that collected my particulars because of my plight and forwarded it the foundation. I was not only given food but cash also. So I beg those who have money to come and join causes like this because people are suffering and hungry,” she added.