By Yinka Adeniran, Ibadan

Worried by the need to enhance the nutritional development of students in her Alma mata, an old student of Mount Olivet Grammar School, Bodija, Ibadan, Mrs Modupe Kolade has presented hundred students with food supplements.

The event which was held at the school library hall and attended by students and staffs of the school saw the donor educating the over hundred students on the importance and need for calcium, zinc and other nutritional elements in their diet.

The donation, according to Mrs Kolade, was part of the Corporate Social Responsibility of Team Awesome, a group with Longrich Bioscience International, led by Mrs Adebisi Kuforiji.

Responding to questions from reporters after the presentation, Kolade, who said she left the school 40 years ago, noted that the CSR effort is targeted at helping to improve the health and meet the daily nutritional needs of children across the country.

She said the effort was in compliance with the directive of the team to reach students and youths in members’ Alma mata across the country.

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Mrs Kolade said, “We are motivated by the need to give back to society. I am here today to give back to my Alma mata. While I’m here, other members of the team have gone to give back to their schools too.

“I left this school 40 years ago and I am back to give back to the school. For now, we are targeting 100 students per school. And we are presenting them with Longrich Calcium, an organic four-in-one product that contains components such as calcium, magnesium, zinc and iron.

“These components are essential vitamins in the formation of bones, teeth and blood. They also help to prevent arthritis. It is something that will prevent rather than treat.

“We have sensitised the students about their health and encouraged them to take the crusade to their parents. Mere looking at the children, you will see some of the physical health challenges that they have.

“Some of them have broken teeth, loose dentition, while some are wobbly. I’ll go back to the team, led by Mrs Adebisi Kuforiji to see how we can help improve on this. This is not a one-off drive, we will keep assisting in this regard but we can’t do it all.

“I am so pleased for the students selected to benefit because merely looking at them you will see that they need the supplements. When I saw them today, I saw challenges and we saw the need to help, we sure cannot do all but we will do our bit. We will continue. When I get back, we will go back to the drawing board and see what more we can do.”

She also used the opportunity of the presentation to appeal to the government at all levels to consider adopting an egg a day for school children to help their growth.

“In those days they used to give lunch to the children. Introduce lunch to schools, introduce an egg a day in the food to the children and then they can introduce that calcium should be given to the children maybe at the beginning of the term, the way they give exercise books in those days. Let them give them and let’s take care of these children because they are our future.

“Groups and individuals can come together to support the children, we don’t have to wait for the government every time. The school feeding programme can be sustained as long as they know it will be run the way it should be ran”, she advised.

Principal of the school, Mrs Omowunmi Ogunrotimi, appreciated ‘Team Awesome’ for the donation stating that the supplements will help boost the children’s energy and rejuvenate them when used appropriately.

She described the initiative as fantastic, noting that the right students were carefully selected to help with their wellbeing.