I'm a relative newby to Canadian Foodgrains Bank, first learning about the organization through a presentation to our United Church group just over 10 years ago. I've followed the doings of the Foodgrains Bank and donated since then and continue to see the value in what the organization does to address hunger. Keep up the good work!
40 Years of Memories
Thanks for sharing your memories!
17 entries.
Prior to working with the Foodgrains Bank, Jacquie and I served with MCC in Mexico and became more familiar with the work of CFGB. Now we are starting our 8th year as Regional Representatives for SK. There are so many wonderful memories! Connecting with churches across SK has been a highlight for Jacquie and I, witnessing people and groups offering cheerfully 'what they have', essentially seeing the 'Christian Response to Hunger' being lived out. As well, a learning tour to Rwanda, sharing with school groups, growing project harvests, and managing the conservation agriculture demo plot at Ag in Motion are memories I will certainly hold on to.
Our growing project is 28 years old and going strong. Canadian Foodgrains Bank is a wonderful charity with fabulous staff in Winnipeg. So proud to be a volunteer in Alberta, Ary Vreeken provides excellent support in this province for our projects.
The years I spent as provincial coordinator for NB are some of the most memorable of my life. It was an honour to be involved with an organization that embodies, to such a large degree, Jesus’ call to generosity and hospitality.
Canadian Foodgrains Bank is one of Canada’s best kept secrets. As part of the staff from 2018 -2023 I benefitted from and was enriched by working alongside faithful Christians from across the denominational spectrum. The high quality of work being done by member agencies with the support of Canadian Foodgrains Bank will serve as a standard for me in my ongoing work. Congratulations to all who have journeyed along this 40 year path. My memories of the men and women who accessed the programs to support their own efforts to secure their families' futures will stay with me as inspiration to keep working towards a world with more equal opportunity for all. Shalom!
As someone who was engaged in the early years of the Foodgrains Bank, on behalf of Canadian Lutheran World Relief, I rejoice in this anniversary and all of the very excellent work to date. So many achievements, so many people supported and empowered! May all look forward to many more years of taking steps toward ending hunger.
I've had a long fruitful history with the Foodgrains Bank, so many memories and such good memories ! I served on the board for 11 years of a 3 year term and got to meet so many people with huge hearts. having that many denominations around the board table with so few disagreements on how to march toward the same goal of Ending Hunger is still amazing to me. I remember the untieing of the previously mandatory actual grain in every case moving to countries of need changing to the much more efficient ways of helping we now have ... I remember learning so much from Bruce Syvret who was my fellow board member for years, I told people I sat beside him because he was my brains, I remember being in Malawi with Kent Myers and Randy Crosman and Randy leaning over to me half way through the study tour and saying " Ray, Your eyes have changed "
I remember seeing so many smiles created by the Foodgrains Bank people and actions.
I remember the meeting in 2005 where the Foodgrains Bank posed the question on how to involve more urban people and churches in the Foodgrains Bank projects. Jeff Anderson and I wrote out a plan at lunch and Kernels of Hope was born that day on a serviette !... Having some real farmers get their cost of production covered by virtual farmers ( which can be anyone urban or rural that wasn't able to help with a traditional Foodgrains Bank Growing Project )
I remember the day Pugeni and I were at a CFL Blue Bomber game and he convinced me we need to show the Mennonites how to do a Kernels type program and the 2 of us going to Grant Dyck's farm ready with a big presentation and Grant cutting me off within 2 minutes saying " Ray, I'm in ! ) He had been praying for a way to help. That turned into Grow Hope which has worked in so many cases ! Being contagious in a good way is fun ! The word fun is in Fundraiser and Sol Janzen will remember the fun we had making my $2 Ugly sweater into a fundraiser that created lots of awareness and about $70,000 and this Christmas having Bugles ( snacks ) auction turn into $1000 Foodgrains Bank of donations plus radio and TV exposure for the Foodgrains Bank :)
I often summarize talks this year by saying... the people we are helping aren't just numbers Every child has a Name, Every child has a dream all those children had or have parents that have a dream that things will be better for their kids than they were for them, Thank you so much to everyone on this interconnected awesome team that has had any part in the past, present or future in making some of those dreams come true.
Blessings to you and yours,
Ray the Grain Guy
I so much appreciated the opportunity to serve on the board as the Mennonite Central Committee representative. I love how the many differences in theology between churches can be put aside while feeding others in the name of Christ. I met many other Christ-followers who love Jesus and show that love by serving others. Happy 40th anniversary!
The Canadian Foodgrains Bank is a bank like no other. It's accounts are happily depleted in the service of others. It brings together churches that not only benefit by membership but also benefit each other by being in the 'same room'. The Foodgrains Bank is a network of members and provides the opportunity for networking among members, networking between urban and rural partners, networking among partners of members worldwide. If the Foodgrains Bank did not exist, it would need to be invented. I write with gratitude, looking forward to the 50th celebration in 10 years.
I am delighted to have the opportunity to mark the 40th anniversary of dedicated service of the Foodgrains Bank in this guest book. I feel honored to have been part of the organization's member team that has worked on food security programming in some of the remotest places across the globe.
It has been an amazing and adventurous journey for the last 7 years serving those at the highest risk in Kenya, Somalia, Mongolia, Nepal, Yemen, DR Congo, Mozambique, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Burundi, and Sudan. I have witnessed firsthand how funding provided by the Foodgrains Bank has made a significant difference in the lives of millions of people, providing vital support to communities in their time of need.
Thank you, Canadian Foodgrains Bank, for your unwavering commitment to helping the most vulnerable communities around the world. It has been an incredible privilege to be part of such an exceptional organization, and we look forward to continued collaboration in the future with ADRA.
One of the most memorable experiences I have had was participating on a Foodgrains Bank delegation to visit Savings Groups and Self-Help Groups in Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Kenya in November 2016. The delegation consisted of: Allison Enns (Mennonite Central Committee Canada), David Adcock (Emergency Relief and Development Overseas), Janet Karsgaard (World Relief Canada - now Tearfund Canada), Joanne Beach (The Christian & Missionary Alliance in Canada) and Michael Salomons (Canadian Foodgrains Bank). We all came away with very positive impressions of Savings and Self-Help groups, and their contributions to sustainable, productive, equitable, and resilient food security. Every group we visited welcomed us with such joy. It was inspiring to hear the stories of transformation of individuals, their families, and their communities.
I was fortunate to travel to Zambia, Zimbabwe and Swaziland with Dan and Wilma Wiens in the winter of 2004. It was an amazing experience, with many memories. A few that come back repeatedly, with the feelings still attached, are as follows: I remember clearly arriving at a village in Zambia (Chongwe?) and our van being instantly surrounded by women singing and dancing with such joy and abandon, and I remember then thinking: “They have so little and are so joyful, and we have so much and forget to be joyful.” I remember how the women in Chelstone came around before meals, with a basin of water, and how they washed our hands, and I thought of Jesus as Mary Magdalen washed his feet with her tears. And how we had only a few pieces of meat in our dish, and then realised that they themselves would not have any meat to eat. So we too did not eat our meat. And the grandmother who was looking after her 20 grandchildren because the parents had all died of AIDS, and how she looked up at us with tears in her eyes and said: “How can I do this?” I remember the distribution site in Zimbabwe where thousands of people sat on the ground in the blazing hot sun waiting patiently for hours to get their bags of grain, and how we of the tour all had our cameras out taking advantage of this wonderful ‘photo-op’. And then how I realised what I was doing – making a travel ‘memento' out of this experience of hunger. As I put my camera down in shame and embarrassment, and looked around, I saw that all the members of the tour who had been doing the same thing, were all now too putting their cameras away, looking chastened and humbled.
These and many other memories and experiences of that study tour stay with me to this day, almost 20 years later.
My first encounter with Canadian Foodgrains Bank was 38 years ago in India, in 1985. I was privileged to be sent by MCC, during a university gap year, to spend most of that year reporting on projects across India. The projects were Food-For-Work projects where Canadian wheat, supplied through the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, were being distributed. As a former missionary kid, I was thrilled to be back in India. The experience significantly expanded my understanding about the reality of hunger and the impact of community projects in rural Indian communities.
When I started my current role as Regional Representative in Manitoba and NW Ontario in 2017, I re-read my final report from that 1985 assignment. I was surprised at the critical comments I made then. I noted that the shipment of Canadian wheat had arrived in the port of Calcutta 3 months late. It came during the monsoon rainy season, so there was some spoilage. Then there were logistical issues in transporting the wheat to the project sites. And finally, the recipients were thankful for the wheat, but they made it known that they preferred rice and lentils over wheat. Now, I often think of those challenges, and am thankful for the ways that Canadian Foodgrains Bank continues to strive for improvement, effectiveness, and efficiency in responding to hunger in many settings. Most significantly we no longer ship wheat from Canada to places of need, but instead purchase appropriate food from regional sources.
During the last five years, I have been privileged to meet many supporters of the Foodgrains Bank across Manitoba and NW Ontario. While meeting growing project groups at harvest events, speaking in churches, engaging with individuals by phone or around a kitchen table, I am continually inspired by the Foodgrains Bank community. When it feels like the world has too many devastating crises, I am encouraged to be part of a network of generous supporters, committed to working together to address global hunger.
I have a very clear memory of when I heard about and saw Canadian Foodgrains Bank at work. Back in 2011, I joined Utooni Development Organization a partner funded by Mennonite Central committee. There was famine in the region when i joined and the communities were receiving inkind food to give them the energy to work on their farms as the expected the rains. I was humbled by the gesture of giving people food to work on their own farms. The name Foodgrains then made sense to me. The well labelled bags with grains and containers of cooking oil found their way to the community members each weekend and saturday was a very important day for each family who was part of the UDO program and worked on their farms during the week. As I trained communities on the importance of Soil conservation through Terraces, sand dam constructions, tree planting and preparing their gardens I was motivated to see the passion with which the men and women worked to at least ensure they had a meal for their families. As i visited individual farms as part of monitoring field visits, I couldn't fail to see the Joy, appreciate the Energy and visualize the Hope the communities had, realizing besides supporting each other to prepare their farms, they didn't have to worry about what they were going to eat. Canadian Foodgrains Bank through MCC had generously provide a food ration of 10 kgs Maize, 5 kgs beans and 1 litre cooking oil every week for each of the households. Long live Canadian Foodgrains!
Back in 1996, Howard Sullivan, the minister at our church asked me if I would be interested in helping with a Canadian Foodgrains Bank project in our area. "Canadian what?" was my puzzled response.
As I learned more about the organization, I could see a couple of things that really attracted me. First, as a farmer, this would be a wonderful opportunity to use my gifts and knowledge to return some of the tremendous blessings God had given me in my life. Second, it would also be a great opportunity for agricultural education within our community. And you know what they say, "When opportunity knocks..."
In 1997, the Bighead River Foodgrains growing project was formed through the cooperation of several churches in Meaford and land was donated on the outskirts of town. I was the farmer contact. Through donations and our first crop of barley, we raised $3500 that first year.
Our project grew and eventually I took on the coordinator and treasurer role which I still do today. Today, we are raising over $50,000 annually. One of my greatest satisfactions was running the Mervin Lush Memorial Antique Tractor Show on our farm. This one-day event drew hundreds of visitors to the farm and raised thousands of dollars for the Foodgrains bank while also allowing people to learn about agriculture. Another highlight was the people to people visit of Sangster from Malawi. It was a thrill to meet up with him again years later in Malawi. Partnering with Christ Church United, now Christ First United, from Mississauga was, and still is, a great experience. Watching their enthusiasm for picking stones in those early years was amazing and it was another opportunity for ag education when they visited our dairy farm.
After retiring from dairy farming, I had the opportunity to go on a learning tour to Malawi. It was an experience that would change the direction of my retirement and one that has left me with a lifetime of memories and gratitude. You cannot possibly go on one of these trips and not be moved to recognize the blessings we have in Canada and attain a desire to help in some way.
After that trip, I began speaking about my experiences throughout Grey and Bruce counties. Then I was asked to become an Ontario ambassador and I began speaking more widely in the province. In 2019, Ontario regional rep Dave Epp took a leave of absence to contest the conservative nomination in his riding. I was asked to fill in as a volunteer rep which I did. Finally, with Dave's success at being elected the conservative candidate in his riding and then in the Oct. 2019 federal election, he resigned as Ontario regional rep and the position became open. Having several months of volunteer experience under my belt, I decided I liked what I was doing and applied for the job. The rest, as they say, is history.
I started officially as the Ontario regional rep in January 2020 and it has been an amazing experience. It started with another learning tour to India which only reinforced in my mind the wonderful things our members and their partners are doing in the developing world. The pandemic (not so amazing) gave me time to meet with most of the over 100 growing projects across the province and to make phone contact with many donors. As restrictions eased in 2022, I became busier with speaking engagements, farm shows, and many, many donor and growing project visits. I am so grateful for the ambassadors we now have who are able to ease the workload.
Of all the things I cherish, of all the memories I've created, none will be stronger than the friendships that have been established around kitchen tables, or in people's living rooms discussing our faith in God and our love of helping others around the world through Canadian Foodgrains Bank. That is what this is all about.
It has been, and continues to be, an awesome ride!
My earliest memories go back to the time MCC started the "Food Bank" which in 1983 led to the formation of Canadian Foodgrains Bank. As farmers we were very happy that some of our wheat could be shipped directly to people in the developing world who needed something to eat. Then during the late 70's, while in MCC service in Bangladesh we had occasion to draw on the Bank and use the wheat in Food for Work to help people through a difficult time.
Years later I was privileged to work as the Manitoba Coordinator. I have wonderful memories of the many supporters in Manitoba working hard in their communities to promote the work of ending hunger. People have come up with many great ways to involve their communities in raising money to help.
Leading tours of supporters to see the overseas work for themselves is another wonderful memory. Seeing for themselves motivates people to work even harder in their community projects and involve as many of their neighbours as possible.
I have so many wonderful memories of my time at the Foodgrains Bank! I think that one of the best memories is visiting a mother and child nutrition project in eastern India. Moms were learning about the nutritional requirements for helping ensure their babies grew up healthy and strong, and being supported in breastfeeding their babies to give them the strongest start possible in life. It was amazing seeing the pride the mamas had in showing off their healthy young children, and their joy in celebrating their families.
