In 2014, the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario marked its 60th Anniversary of being a general farm organization in Ontario. As part of the celebration, we encouraged our members, through the district associations, to take a part of their 2014 seeded acres of corn or soybeans and to donate those to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank in honour of the CFFO's 60th Anniversary celebrations.
We were hoping for 60 acres, one acre for each year, but the enthusiasm was so strong that we got to 60 hectares-- some 150 acres worth! The plots of land were all harvested and the crops delivered to local elevators where the soybeans were sold and the money was then sent to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank head office in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The money sent as a result of those 150 acres of soybeans is matched at a 4-to-1 ratio through the Canadian Foodgrains Bank's agreement with the federal government, up to a maximum of 25 million dollars per year. The Canadian Foodgrains Bank is a registered Canadian charity and it is a Christian response to hunger.
It is hard to imagine that thousands upon thousands of children die in developing countries of starvation, malnutrition and disease. We know that in our own country of Canada, there are children who go to school with empty stomachs, and we know that various school boards across the country have breakfast, lunch and snack programs to try and help. But it is the massive, desperate situation in developing countries that made the CFFO, through its 4,100 members, decide to support this cause.
With the government match of 4-to-1, plots of crops add up very quickly. We know that one of our district associations, Haldimand-Norfolk, as a result of its project of 45 acres of soybeans and with the added government match, donated over $30,000. So you can see that an organization like the Canadian Foodgrains Bank is a very good vehicle to address the travesty in the Developing Countries.
We here at CFFO would like to thank our Lord for the bountiful harvest that He bestowed on us in 2014. We also want to thank the district associations of the CFFO that participated in the 150 acres of soybeans as well as all of the volunteers, farm suppliers and the companies that donated the seed and other inputs so that, in honour of the CFFO 60th Anniversary, a little bit of suffering in the Developing Countries will be addressed.
Source: CFFO