A special message from the executive director
After serving as executive director since 1997, Jim Cornelius will hand over leadership of the Foodgrains Bank in September 2020. (Photo: Siggi Holzhaeuer)
As we navigate the reality of the pandemic together, I have been reflecting on the role of the Foodgrains Bank in the world. From supporters like you, to our members and their partners, and the families we serve overseas—this special network of people working together toward a common goal has never seemed more important to me than it does today.
What does our collective, life-saving work look like in a pandemic?
It looks like growing project supporters meeting virtually to continue planning this year’s crop.
It looks like Canadian families, churches and businesses continuing to support efforts to end hunger, no matter how isolated, anxious and fearful they are themselves.
It looks like our members and their partners working countless hours to ensure their essential projects continue—from delivering food baskets to homes instead of having one large collection point to sharing about conservation agriculture techniques over radio rather than in-person.
It looks like hope, faith and love amid a time of worry, uncertainty and struggle.
As I think of the implications of COVID-19 on world hunger—the very real and dire implications—I also reflect on this special force of hope, faith and love that is the Foodgrains Bank network. We’re all in this together, guided by a loving God, and a God that has positioned and prepared us for a time like this.
Signs of an emerging global food crisis
As governments around the world issued stay-at-home orders and shut down large parts of their economies to contain the spread of the virus, millions of people have lost their jobs and livelihoods overnight. Some food supply chains have been disrupted, and we’re seeing risks to food production.
The World Food Programme warns that the millions of people facing the highest crisis levels of hunger could double due to COVID-19. Sadly, 2020 could see the worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War.
The World Food Programme warns that the millions of people facing the highest crisis levels of hunger could double due to COVID-19. Sadly, 2020 could see the worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War.
It will be months before we fully understand how this pandemic has affected global food security. What we do know, though, is that humanitarian assistance is urgently needed now to support families who are already facing both hunger and COVID-19. And we know how to respond. After all, working to end global hunger is what has brought us together for the past 37 years. It’s this experience, coupled with the faithful commitment of our network, that gives me hope for the future.
Passing the baton to a new executive director
Andy Harrington is looking forward to meeting Foodgrains Bank supporters across Canada. (Photo: Submitted)
As you know, I will be handing over leadership of this wonderful organization this year. Our board of directors has appointed Andy Harrington as the next executive director of Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Andy comes to us with extensive leadership experience and years participating in Christian responses to global poverty, most recently through his role as CEO of the Wellspring Foundation in Langley, B.C.
Andy takes on the role of executive director in September, and I will move into an advisory position to support him through the transition. I’m confident Andy’s experience, together with the strength and expertise of our network, will mean fewer families around the world will experience hunger—through this pandemic and beyond.
I wish to extend my deepest thanks for so many of you who have so faithfully supported our shared goal of a world without hunger. I pray God will continue to guide our work through these trying times, and that you are strengthened by hope, faith and love.
– Jim Cornelius, Executive Director
