Sharing Love Everywhere
With A Box Full of Hope
Every year, we bring together food, clothing, essential items and the generosity of people who believe that no one should feel forgotten during the season of giving. Through our Box of Hope outreaches, NOCF reaches families and communities in Lagos and Kano with something practical, something needed and, most importantly, a reminder that someone cares.
It began with one December, one street, and 120 plates of food.
In 2020, a small group of friends in Ajah, Lagos, Nigeria, cooked and served meals on Boxing Day. They called it Project 26, after the date. The next year they added a box: rice, oil, clothing, soap. Families told us the box mattered more than the meal, because it lasted.
Today NOCF is a registered Nigerian foundation operating from Lagos and Kano, with a volunteer roster, published delivery counts and partner reporting. The tradition has not changed. The scale has.
It began with one December, one street, and 120 plates of food.
Today NOCF is a registered Nigerian foundation operating from Lagos and Kano, with a volunteer roster, published delivery counts and partner reporting. The tradition has not changed. The scale has.
Inside a box
Rice, oil, staples, clothing, soap and a handwritten note.
Cost per box
₦12,500 average, fully itemised in our annual report.
Delivered by
Volunteers, in person, household by household.
Five ways to put something in the box.
Donate Cash
Fund box contents, transport and cooking at scale. Every naira is reported against a delivery run.
Give nowDonate Food
Rice, oil, garri, beans, tomatoes; staples that carry a household through the season.
Pledge nowDonate Medical Supply
Bandages, gloves, basic diagnostic kits, and over-the-counter medicines go directly to our outreach clinics in Lagos and Kano.
Pledge Medical suppliesDonate Clothing
Clean, wearable clothing for children and adults, sorted by our volunteers before delivery.
Pledge Clothing2020 – 2026
From a single street in Ikeja to a two-city operation with year-round giving channels.
Project 26 begins
A single Boxing Day meal drive in Ajah, Lagos with over 200+ hot meals cooked and shared by a group of friends.
More Items Added
The drive becomes a package with raw food items, cleaning utensils and essentials packed for 150+ households.
Restrategized
A clearer strategy emerges, shaped by what we learned along the way. And with it, the idea for the box came to life.
Project 26 Resumes
We resumed the project, adding new items to make the pack more complete. The goal was to create a pack capable of feeding a family of five.
Kano Opens
Project 26 expands to Kano, marking its first step beyond the South-West. From there, the idea of the box begins to come to life.
Breakfast With Nnenna
A breakfast session bringing together the founder and people from across the community.
Year-round giving
Food, clothing, medicals and cash channels run all year, with Boxing Day remaining the flagship outreach.
Project 26 begins
A single Boxing Day meal drive in Ajah, Lagos with over 200+ hot meals cooked and shared by a group of friends.
More Items Added
The drive becomes a package with raw food items, cleaning utensils and essentials packed for 150+ households.
Restrategized
A clearer strategy emerges, shaped by what we learned along the way. And with it, the idea for the box came to life.
Project 26 Resumes
We resumed the project, adding new items to make the pack more complete. The goal was to create a pack capable of feeding a family of five.
Kano Opens
Project 26 expands to Kano, marking its first step beyond the South-West. From there, the idea of the box begins to come to life.
Breakfast With Nnenna
A breakfast session bringing together the founder and people from across the community.
Year-round giving
Food, clothing, medicals and cash channels run all year, with Boxing Day remaining the flagship outreach.
Project 26 begins
A single Boxing Day meal drive in Ajah, Lagos with over 200+ hot meals cooked and shared by a group of friends.
More Items Added
The drive becomes a package with raw food items, cleaning utensils and essentials packed for 150+ households.
Restrategized
A clearer strategy emerges, shaped by what we learned along the way. And with it, the idea for the box came to life.
Project 26 Resumes
We resumed the project, adding new items to make the pack more complete. The goal was to create a pack capable of feeding a family of five.
Kano Opens
Project 26 expands to Kano, marking its first step beyond the South-West. From there, the idea of the box begins to come to life.
Breakfast With Nnenna
A breakfast session bringing together the founder and people from across the community.
Year-round giving
Food, clothing, medicals and cash channels run all year, with Boxing Day remaining the flagship outreach.
Numbers we publish, not numbers we estimate.
Every figure represents a real journey, not just numbers and percentages. Real data allows us to track the impact each December donation and care event creates in our community.
We don't round up, and we don't count a box twice. If we deliver, it's counted in the impact.
Read the full reportDistributed since Boxing Day 2020 Lagos and Kano combined.
Average cost, fully itemised in every annual report we publish.
Same date. Same street. Same principle hand it over yourself.
Every food and clothing donation reaches a named household.
We have lived in this neighbourhood for eleven years. Nobody has ever come to our door with something for us. The volunteers came at seven in the morning, before the sun was hot. My husband did not know what to say. I told him: say thank you and mean it.
“I did not expect someone to knock on my door that morning. My children had never seen them before. If my husband had the box, so we say thank you and mean it.”
“People think giving is easy. It is not. It requires logistics, patience, and money. NOCF has found a way to standardize love. That is the only way I can describe what happens here.”
“I have supplied the medical kits for three years. They don't just ask for a discount, they ask for the expiration dates. They care about what goes in.”
“There are no cameras in our faces when they come. They give us the box, they ask how we are doing, and they leave. It is respectful.”
What actually happened, written by the people who were there.
The morning the van left at 5am
Before the sun comes up, over thirty volunteers assemble at our staging ground. This field note details the logistics, energy, and unexpected moments that happen before the first box is even loaded.
Cooking for a street you don’t know
When we receive requests from community leaders, we have to scale our operations rapidly. Here is how our kitchen team handles the pressure of cooking hundreds of meals while maintaining quality and warmth.
What families actually ask for
We spend time listening. Often, what we assume people need isn't what they want most. This note explores the real conversations happening on the ground and how they shape our annual delivery lists.
Stay close to the work.
We send field notes about our work what we delivered, what it cost, and what we learned. No parade or ceremony. Just the record.