This year World Renew joins the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) in celebrating 30 years of responding to global hunger.
In March 2013, delegations of Foodgrains Bank members, supporters and staff gathered in Ottawa, Ontario for a “Hill Day” where they met with 35 Members of Parliament from all major parties to tell them about the work CFGB and its partners are doing around the world and to request the continued support of the Canadian government in this endeavor.
“The Foodgrains Bank’s 30 years of experience shows in its responses to food insecurity and chronic hunger and its strong grassroots relationships with the people who support it,” stated the Honorable Julian Fantino, Minister of International Cooperation, at a reception to mark the 30th anniversary. He recognized the effective work of CFGB and its members internationally and also acknowledged the strong relationship CFGB has established with communities across Canada.
World Renew was one of five founding members of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank when it was established in 1983 as a means to help church-based organizations respond effectively and efficiently to hunger around the world. Today, World Renew and 14 other organizations continue to use the CFGB as a way to work together and increase their ministry.
Through the Foodgrains Bank, World Renew is able to leverage the support it receives from its constituents with a 4 to 1 matching of funds
Through the Foodgrains Bank, World Renew is able to leverage the support it receives from its constituents with a 4 to 1 matching of funds from the Canadian government. This money often goes even further when other member organizations contribute from their accounts at CFGB to support World Renew’s interventions.
In the beginning, the CFGB received donations of grain from farmers across Canada and shipped the grain to communities in need. However, shipped goods took months to be delivered and often harmed the local economy due to the introduction of large quantities of imported grain. Today, Foodgrains Bank members use money raised to purchase goods on the local market of the countries where they are responding, thus supporting the local economy and local food preferences.
Local farmers and communities continue to support the Foodgrains Bank and its members but, rather than donating grain, they raise money through community projects or donate the profits from part of their harvest. Entire communities have united to establish “growing projects” in which individuals and companies donate land, seeds, fertilizer, time and equipment to increase the profit margin of a harvest. And not all growing projects are grain farms – communities have harvested pumpkins, canola, and even lobsters in support of the Foodgrains Bank!
“This 30 year partnership with CFGB has provided World Renew with the means to respond quickly and effectively in support of millions of families facing food shortages due to natural or manmade disasters,” states Wayne de Jong, World Renew’s Director of Disaster Response & Rehabilitation. “Meeting with Ministers and Parliamentarians in Ottawa provided us with an excellent opportunity to promote this important partnership and garner renewed support.”
World Renew is grateful for the continued support and confidence its constituents have placed in this partnership and looks forward to a future of working together in the effort to end global hunger.
