The Household of God Church, Oregun, Lagos has fixed its annual GRACE programme for December 18.
Founded by the flamboyant pastor of the church, Rev Chris Okotie, it is a colourful love feast through which the church reaches out to the less privileged with cash donations and other humanitarian gestures.
The event has seen four major charities in Lagos, namely Pacelli School for the Blind and Partially Sighted, Sunshine Foundation, Little Saints Orphanage and Spinal Cord Injuries Association of Nigeria, given cash donations of N1.5 million each.
Making its debut in 1990, the GRACE programme has since become an internationally acclaimed event which attracts the movers and shakers of the society from the entertainment, fashion and corporate sectors, among others.
The KARIS Award, a major component of the programme, was launched in 1996 as an award given to unsung Nigerian heroes/heroines who, due to some errors of omission, were not duly appreciated by the government in their generation.
Past recipients of the award included the late former Head of State Gen. Murtala Mohammed; renowned educationist and human rights activist, Dr. Tai Solarin; retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, Chris Omeben; Oba Funsho Adeolu; Mallam Aminu Kano; Chief (Mrs.) Margaret Ekpo; Chief Gani Fawehinmi and Emmanuel Okala, among others.
The award for this year is billed to go to Mrs. Efunjoke Coker, MFR, a former principal of Queens College, Lagos.