Grow Hope is an initiative of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Grow Hope Saskatchewan began as a collaboration between MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) Saskatchewan, and the Saskatoon Roman Catholic Diocese in the winter of 2017 to find creative ways to engage more people in the effort to help end global hunger.
Two farmers agreed to help kickstart the project with a total of 160 acres designated to the project. In 2022, five farm families have agreed to designate farmland to the project bringing the total to 330 acres amongst five farm families.
For over 40 years, many people have donated funds to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank through one of 15 member agencies to support emergency food distribution to those affected by disaster or conflict in developing regions, to help vulnerable communities grow more and better food to feed themselves and their families in sustainable ways, and to provide nutritional support to malnourished people.
The Grow Hope model is a creative way to encourage both rural and urban dwellers to share the risk and work together to raise funds through a collaborative growing project that includes numerous farmers and donors across Canada, including here in Saskatchewan.
The Grow Hope Saskatchewan project is an ecumenical effort between three partner agencies: Mennonite Central Committee, the Saskatoon Roman Catholic Diocese, and Canadian Baptist Ministries to raise funds for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Grow Hope Saskatchewan continues to invite other Christian denominations to be a part of the project and raise funds for their respective member agency of the Foodgrains Bank as part of this collaborative effort. In 2023, the Synod of Saskatchewan of The Presbyterian Church in Canada and the Qu’Appelle Diocese of the Anglican Church agreed to become partners in Grow Hope Saskatchewan.
The motivation behind the project is based on a sense of God’s invitation to participate in the work of restoring humanity’s relationship to God, to each other, and to creation. We believe that sharing of our abundance with those whose lives are vulnerable due to food shortages is part of that restoration, and it has been part of our mission for a long time. In our scriptures, the prophet Isaiah encouraged people to “Feed the hungry and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be bright as noon.” (Isaiah 58:10). Jesus of Nazareth taught and exemplified that same vision so we see Grow Hope Saskatchewan as a practical way to participate in that work and extend the table. We do this in the name of Christ.
How it works.
- Generous farmers in Saskatchewan agree to grow and donate land to grow a crop for Grow Hope Saskatchewan.
- People sponsor the growth of a crop with a donation to help cover the costs of farming. It costs up to $350 per acre to provide seed, fertilizer, fuel and other things needed to grow a crop.
- After harvest, farmers sell the crop and donate the proceeds to Canadian Foodgrains Bank. The proceeds from the sale of the crop can be as much as $600 per acre or more. Crop proceeds used to provide emergency food assistance for people living through a crisis may be matched 4:1 through the Canadian Foodgrains Bank’s Partnership with Global Affairs Canada.
You can contribute to Grow Hope Saskatchewan as a farmer, or as a donor to provide inputs for the acres planted.
For more information, email SynodSaskGrowHope@gmail.com.
You can donate by sending an e-transfer (and your contact information) to SynodSaskGrowHope@gmail.com
or by sending a cheque made out to the Synod of Saskatchewan to:
Synod of Saskatchewan
Grow Hope Saskatchewan
1-2338 Assiniboine Ave E
Regina, SK S4V 2E9
| Back to World Hunger |
|
PWS&D Canadian Foodgrains Projects |