Three years after the death of Mr. Bunmi Adedayo, the only child of the founders of Tastee Fried Chicken (TFC), his parents; Mr. Adekunle Adedayo (TFC Chairman) and his wife, Olayinka (Managing Director) have launched a foundation in his memory. The Bunmi Adedayo Foundation will cater for the educational needs of less privileged children. The ceremony which held at the Shell Hall, MUSON Centre Lagos, attracted a gathering of notables including; Mrs. Daisy Danjuma the Chief Launcher, Former Minister of Education Obiageli Ezekwesili who delivered the keynote address titled: “A Caring Society Grows Faster”, Hon. Justice George Oguntade and Dr. Adedeji Adeleke who were co-launchers.
The Foundation is not just to immortalize Bunmi’s name but most importantly to propagate his dreams, and build on his altruistic programmes. Bunmi’s vision was to be the keeper of the less fortunate, especially disadvantaged primary school children. He organised a lot of programmes for the benefit of these children under the CSR activities of Tastee Fried Chicken. Some of these included “Santa Goes To School” where gifts were given to children in public schools and public hospitals; Spelling Bee Competitions which saw children from schools all over Lagos compete for prizes and helped to improve their vocabulary. Musical concerts were also staged where the current superstars in the Nigerian music scene were commissioned to entertain children aged 4 – 11 years old.
The foundation will intervene in schools through advocacy, improving the academic standards, enhancing the learning environment, instilling a sense of civic responsibility in the children and encouraging them to achieve their potentials. This will enable the children to impact their national and global communities in the future.
At an earlier briefing at TFC Bunmi’s Place, Victoria Island, Lagos State, Mrs. Olayinka Adedayo stated that the foundation was set up to immortalise and propagate their son’s altruistic nature of giving and sharing. A member of the board of trustees, Dr Doyin Abiola, said: “The cardinal aim of the Foundation is to improve the lives of children from disadvantaged backgrounds, but more importantly to extend Bunmi’s dream to bridge the gap of quality education delivery between private and public schools. “The Bunmi Adedayo Foundation will intervene in schools through programmes to improve academics, enhance the learning environment and promote a sense of universal civic responsibility in the children.” A member of the Board of Trustees, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, urged the government and society to support the project to save lives.
Photo Credit: OvationDelemomodu
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