By Dwelleth Morountodun
Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has one obsession and this is inherent in her: the power of giving. For her, the barometer for measuring the greatness and essence of life is by giving and donating especially to those who are in needs.
This innate calling indexes the life of our Lord Jesus Christ while he walked on earth thousands of years gone by sticking to his calling one of which is the business of doing good to all. However, here lies one of the profound mysteries…as the needy and vulnerable have never ceased to mutate in every society.
Like a chemical reaction in her make up, Mrs. Adeosun has irrevocably bounced into the centre stage with her calling of giving, while casting aside though that this is one turf that many nouveau riche away from.
The former Minister of Finance has become preoccupied on doing an engrossing memoir not for literary import but the practical demonstration of love, care and philanthropism with the Dash Me Store.
Recall how in no too distance time gone by and away from politics even though with feats and achievements ubiquitously etched in the sands of time as former Minister of Finance, Adeosun, has risen to the challenge and on the march again in the humanitarian calling.
As the impact of the Dash Me Store, revibrates across geographical boundaries, putting her thought stream into context about the NGO, Adeosun explained that the Dash Me Foundation and its online thrift-for-charity initiative were established to give hope and better life to the vulnerable and needy across Nigeria.
All this were made evident when Adeosun responded to media enquiries from her base in United Kingdom.
According to her, the Dash Me Foundation and Dash Me Store have rekindled her love for the vulnerable and needy people in the country.
“A N20,000k sale that will pay the medical of an abandoned child gives me so much excitement despite having handled transactions worth billions of dollars for Nigeria.” she stated.
Also remember that the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, had on June 14, 2021, launched the Dash Me Foundation to raise funds for Nigeria’s army of small orphanages, Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, domestic violence shelters and groups working with the vulnerable and needy.
Mrs. Adeosun disclosed that the Dash Me Foundation was working closely with charitable organisations in the grassroots to ensure that funds and materials donated via the Dash Me Store get to actual beneficiaries.
She said, “The thrift-for-charity store is a unique model which does not just give to the needy in the conventional way of merely handing out donations.
“It is an innovative and structured way of aggregating donations to earn income to transform the lives of the vulnerable and needy people in Nigeria while also creating jobs in the process.”
The Foundation, according to the former Minister, ensures that beneficiaries are genuine and have a track record of performance.
“It also makes sure that the funds granted are utilised in accordance with agreed terms. Efforts are made to screen out opportunists and ensure that every naira counts.
“The Dash Me Foundation currently operates two thrift stores in Nigeria – one is an upscale boutique located in the highbrow Lekki Phase 1 and the other, named Discount City, in Ogba, both in Lagos State.
“The boutiques are filled with shoes, clothes, furniture and accessories which were donated by generous supporters in New York, London and Nigeria. Revenue from sales of all items in the boutiques goes to support the needy,” she added.
The most recent grants from the Dash Me Foundation showed a range of deserving beneficiaries with projects spread across the nation.
A major grant beneficiary was the Feet of Grace, an organisation providing false limbs to amputees on low incomes and wheelchairs to polio victims in Kano, Nasarawa and Cross River States.
Other beneficiaries include Peculiar Saint Orphanage, provided with a fully funded cerebral palsy therapy room and Sought-After Women, which received funds to resettle women who had been trafficked.
The rapidly expanding foundation is registered in the UK as well as New York and Lagos, even as Prof. Osinbajo, had in June 2021, during the launch of the Dash Me Foundation, lauded the former minister for the initiative, describing it as the first of its kind in the country.
He said, “I am excited to be here for several reasons, but most of all because of Mrs Adeosun’s commitment to the notion that all service to man is actually service to God, and she took that very seriously.
“This is why, as Minister, she prioritized the Social Investment Programmes, when for the first time, the country voted almost N500 billion of our annual budget to welfare programmes which are called the Social Investment Programmes, which involved engaging 500,000 young men and women, and also giving microcredit to about 2 million traders and also a home-grown school feeding programme for 9.5 million children daily in public schools across the country.
“I am therefore really not surprised that she has decided to use some of her enormous talent and influence to establish an organization that raises funds and provides resources for indigenous grassroot charities working with orphaned and vulnerable children, disadvantaged youth, and victims of domestic violence.”