The North East Grow Project (NEGP) in Bonnyville held their 17th harvest for the Canadian Food Grains Bank on the weekend and yielded about 40-45 bushels per acre.
Five combines harvest 147 acres of wheat on Sept. 22, located on Jill Croteau's property, about four miles east of Bonnyville.
With those numbers and with red spring wheat selling for about $7.29 a bushel, Terry Shenher, NEGP president, expects to earn about $36,000 from the sale of the grain. That's on top of about $11,000 in monetary donations.
Shenher expects to be able to provide about $31,000 to the cause, after expenses.
“The harvest was successful, the grain was dry. We had enough volunteers to help to make sure the harvest was finished on time. It was another successful season,” said Shenher.
The Canadian Food Grains Bank is a Christian response to world hunger. All donations made to the cause are matched four times through a federal program called the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
Prior to the harvest, Shenher thanked all the volunteers for leaving their own farms to help harvest for the Canadian Food Grains Bank.
“Our committee is shrinking so we have a pretty small group but we really appreciate you guys coming to help us with the seeding and the spraying and the harvest,” he said.
“This is our 17th crop, so $390,000 and the government has matched that times four so it is a considerable donation and it is a considerable cause. Thanks to the guys for taking half a day out of your own harvest to come out.”
Terence Barg, regional coordinator for the Canadian Food Grains Bank, was present at the Bonnyville harvest for his first time and thanked the community for all their efforts.
“I just want to say thank you for the work that you do. And know that in Alberta we have about 33 of these growing projects,” said Barg.
“Last year farmers in Alberta donated about 6,200 tonnes of grain and in addition to that a lot of money was donated as well. That's just to say that it takes a lot of Canadians to make the Food Grains Bank work.”
With these donations, as well as CIDA's matching funds, the Canadian Food Grains Bank was able to assist in 36 countries, touching the lives of 2.1 million people. On top of that, over $44 million has gone towards programs to help eliminate world hunger.
To date, CIDA contributes about $25 million a year in matching funds.
“We used about 20,000 tonnes of grain for food and for seeds. And just to give you an idea of what that looks like, that's 450 rail cars full of grain. That's what we were able to do in one year,” said Barg. “And that's because Canadians are generous and Canadian are willing to be a part of this. So we're thankful for that.”
Barg handed out postcards for people to sign to help end world hunger, which was entitled, “A recipe for Ending Global Hunger.” These will be sent to Prime Minister Stephen Harper to stress the importance of the program to Canadians.
The Canadian Food Grains bank is made up of 32 church groups of many denominations, as well as 15 relief agencies from across Canada.
“Those relief agencies have a lot of partners overseas where the hungry people are,” said Barg. “So we're just thanking Stephen Harper for the work and the recognition that he's done in recognising hungry people…this is making a difference in people's lives.
“So often we just hear about the problems and the droughts and the famines and those things but we continually get stories back from people in Africa and Asia that now they're able to feed their family, now they're eating again. And that's what we're about. We believe we have a responsibility to share some of what we have.”
Shenher said anyone interested in getting involved the North East Grow Project can attend their winter meeting, where the committee will begin organizing and preparing to plant the field again this spring for the Canadian Food Grains Bank.
