The Rural Voice, 1995-12, Page 25picked rocks from the land they were
using for a growing project, then
decorated and sold the rocks as
"prayer rocks". A Rodney group sold
decorated pot scrubbers to raise
$1,000. A church in Bainesville
bakes 300-400 pies a year and
donates the proceeds to the bank.
The novelty of such projects helps
the Foodgrains Bank project grow by
creating interest in the media and the
people watching, listening or reading.
A group in Lancaster on the Ontario -
Quebec border started out aiming at a
24 -acre growing project, but it
quickly grew to 40 acres. They then
harvested the crop October 28 and
got a police escort to truck the 40 -
acres of grain to market. The Valley
Farmer TV show covered the
procession. A landowner living in
Montreal saw the item and phoned
offering the use of 66 acres for a
project next year.
The Presbyterian Corn Share
Project ties rural and urban
churches together. Rev. Steve
Webb, a former farmer and minister
with Knox Presbyterian Church in
Monkton, said his church was
looking for a project that would let
urban churches "get their hands on a
grassroots project that would feed
people while letting rural people use
their talents and resources to
contribute to the church". Under the
Corn Share project that emerged,
urban churches raise money to cover
the cost of crop inputs. Individual
farmers are given that funding in
return for the promise to donate the
harvest for the area paid for.
City people are invited out to help
with rock -picking in the spring, for
picnics or corn roasts in the summer,
and to see the crop harvested in the
fall. What has emerged, Webb said,
is a program that now involves
dozens of urban churches, six or
seven major growing projects and
many individual one -acre projects.
Corn Share allows church people to
learn more about food and agriculture
and to at least double the impact of
their donations by channeling them
through crops.
"If a congregation sends us $1000,
we can turn that into $2000. Then we
turn that over to the Foodgrains Bank
and CIDA (the Canadian
International Development Agency)
does its magic with it," said Webb.
He's referring to the four -to -one
matching formula the government
agency uses for most projects. For
Corn Share it meant that about
$60,000 worth of corn and other
crops donated to the Foodgrains
Bank last year translated into about
$300,000 worth of food for hungry
people around the world.
The Foodgrains Bank gives
farmers a way to express their faith,
Papple says. Often farmers are shy
about talking about their religious
faith but when they take part in this
kind of project, they will often talk
about why they are helping out. "I
think in general people are really
generous. This is an easy way for
them to give — to come out and help
for a few hours."
The help of Canadian farmers and
supporters of the Canadian
Foodgrains Bank was felt in 25
countries last year, with 42,000
metric tonnes of grains shipped
overseas, 32,000 tonnes on behalf of
the 12 member churches of the bank
and 10,000 on behalf of related
agencies. War is one of the greatest
causes of need. Last year refugees
from the civil war in Rwanda brought
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