Community Outreach
How Does Canadian Foodgrains Bank Work?
Farmers can make donations of grain, corn, oilseeds, pulse crops and other agricultural commodities at most grain elevators in Canada. Livestock producers are also active.
Many people make donations in cash, which is then used to buy additional food and to help pay shipping, bagging and transportation costs.
At Maple Grove, we provide seed money for farmers in Clifford to grow crops. In turn, they provide us with agricultural products to sell so that we can send them cash. We have sold pumpkins, corn, and now we sell oatmeal and wild bird seed. Selling the product brings in a small return – we really need to have members “donate” monies in return for the product so that more cash can enhance our Maple Grove/ Clifford donation to the Foodgrains Bank.
A recent area of growth has been community growing projects where a group of farmers, non-farmers and agri-businesses get together to farm a common plot of land and donate the crop to the Foodgrains Bank. Last year, such projects contributed over 15,000 tonnes of grain.
From http://foodgrainsbank.ca/about-us/ –
In 2015-16, we helped over one million people in 40 countries. Foodgrains Bank programs are implemented by our member agencies in the developing world. Read our most recent annual report or our most recent audited financial statements.
The Canadian International Development Agency matches our shipments on a 4:1 basis up to a maximum of $16 million a year. This greatly enhances the amount of food and assistance we can provide.
Where the Spirit Soars and the Heart Finds a Home
Where Does the Grain Go?
Food collected by the Foodgrains Bank is distributed based on need, regardless of religious or political affiliation. In 2004/2005, food assistance was provided to people in 18 countries in response to poverty, natural disaster and conflict.
The food is used in one of three ways:
- To provide immediate nutrition for people in emergency situations i.e. severe drought;
- To feed people as they rebuild and replant until a new crop is harvested i.e. after flooding;
- To provide food as wages in food-for-work programs where people and their communities work on longer-term projects such as irrigation and improving farmland so that, in the future, people will be able to feed themselves.
How can I help?
When you purchase the oatmeal and the bird seed at Maple Grove every third Sunday of the month, we need you to ‘donate’ a little extra to the cost — you will be providing food and support for many more. The work of preparing the product for us: planting, growing and harvesting the crop, packaging the crop and getting it to us is all done by volunteers. What you pay only recovers a fraction of that cost. . . what you donate helps to really provide support for those in need.
Learn more about the Canada Foodgrains Bank
Please continue to buy the bags of oatmeal. . . and we’ll even give you extra recipes to help you get that good fibre, and support such a worthwhile cause in an easy and inexpensive way!