A local harvest of generosity for Canadian Foodgrains Bank

Harvest is a special time of year for farmers and it’s especially gratifying when the fruits of all their hard work goes to support those less fortunate. Today,  August 20, the Coaldale-Lethbridge Foodgrains Project held their annual harvest event and barbecue at a field east of Coaldale owned by George and Dorothy Mathies. Last year the event raised close to $200,000 for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and organizers are confident they’ll reach that mark again.

Farmers from throughout the Lethbridge and Coaldale areas converged on a local field Tuesday afternoon to bring in a harvest of generosity. A total of 15 combines and eight trucks rolled into the swatches of barley while an appreciative crowd or community members cheered them. Chairman of the Coaldale-Lethbridge Foodgrains Project Ed Donkersgoed says the annual event has raised an average of $150,000 a year over the last 17 years.

“We basically organize a small army of volunteers to do every piece of the preparation in the spring from herbicide application and crop protection products, as well as seeding and irrigateing and taking fertilizer, and then ultimately the combining and baling of the crop at harvest time and end for the event today,” he explains.

The money raised by this local event for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank will be matched by the Canadian government and used to provide food aid throughout the world. Alberta Regional Representative Abe Janzen says the Foodgrains Bank was able to feed over a million people in around 40 different projects thanks to harvests across Canada.

“About 60%, 60 to 70% of that money goes to food aid, meaning emergency food, Syria, Sudan, Gaza. Those are Yemen. Those are the hot some of the hot points right now in the world where people are extremely food insecure, They’re starving. About 30 to 40% of the revenues go into helping farmers develop better crops, grow better food or more food, at least conservation,” he says

The barley harvested from this quarter section will be sold at market value to local feed yards and livestock producers, many of whom add their own donation. Donkersgoed says he always amazed at how much can be accomplished by a dedicated group of supporters.

“I wish I could bottle the feeling of joy and appreciation for our community. We’ve got less than 200 people on an annual basis that come together and raise a small fortune. And if you think about that, that’s not a large crowd of people, but it sure is a heck of a lot of money. So we truly have a very small group of incredibly generous people that you see here today. So it’s just fun to be a part of that kind of environment,” he says

A large crowd also turned out for a barbecue at the event sponsored by ATB. The barbecue will add another $10 to $20,000 to the fundraising total.