Taken from the BAYFIELD BREEZE – VOLUME 6 – WEEK 35 ISSUE 269
BY: MELODY FALCONER-POUNDER
Members of five local congregations came together to worship on Aug. 17 under the fairgrounds tent in a ‘harvest themed’ community church service that proved to be a widely popular success. Organizers were thrilled with the participation and those in attendance unanimously agreed that this must become an annual event.
Guest Speaker Jean Bennett, well known for her activism in Huron County, shared personal stories from her international travels observing projects of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank in parts of Africa and Nicaragua.
The Canadian Foodgrains Bank has operated for over 30 years, with a vision of ‘a world without hunger’. In partnership with Canadian churches and church-based agencies, they organize and support worldwide programs that work towards ending global hunger. Sometimes this is through meeting immediate food needs in crisis regions; but they also work constantly to reduce malnutrition and achieve sustainable food security in developing countries.
Bennett spoke of witnessing projects in operation such as pineapple plantations started with seeds provided by Canadian Foodgrains that now have unified 700 farmers into a powerful co-operative allowing them to receive higher prices for their fruit. Elsewhere, goats are provided annually to individuals this allows local women to both feed and support their families. She also acknowledged that safe, affordable access to healthy food should be considered a basic human right, and the work of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank strives to achieve this through collecting grain and through cash donation.
Because of an established partnership with the Federal Government, all donations for food assistance are leveraged four to one, which means for every dollar donated to Foodgrains; $5 is actually spent.
“The generosity of those attending the Bayfield Fair Community Church Service last Sunday resulted in $1,530 offered as donations to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. With the government’s portion, this translates to $7,650 worth of food aid that will be provided,” said Elise Feltrin, minister of St. Andrew’s United Church. “What a remarkable ‘harvest’ of abundance to be shared with those in need! To all who attended and supported this worthy cause, many thanks.”