Sask. farmer’s posthumous gift makes TeleMiracle history

Mar 09, 2022

Eva Morgan donated more than $1.7 million to the fundraiser

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

A late Sask. farmer’s donation helped add to a historic fundraising event.

Eva Morgan was a teacher before marrying her husband John and operating a cash crop and cattle farm near Old Wives, Sask. for 50 years until retiring in Moose Jaw in 1998.

She passed away on Feb. 14, 2021, at the age of 99.

But her memory lives on through a significant donation to the TeleMiracle event held March 5 and 6.

Of the more than $8 million raised during the two-day telethon, Morgan made a posthumous donation of $1,779,771.20 – the largest single donation in the fundraiser’s history.

The $8 million total also set a new record, breaking the previous mark of $7 million raised in 2018.

The hosts announced her donation in the closing hours of the 20-hour event on Sunday.

“There were a lot of tears in the building,” Richard Kiest, executive director of the Kinsmen Foundation, told CTV News.

Funds raised during TeleMiracle are distributed through the Kinsmen Foundation, which helps Saskatchewan families needing specialized mobility equipment and assistance with medical travel.

Some mobility scooters, for example, can cost upwards of $5,000.

Morgan’s bequest will go a long way to help families, Kies said.

“We can’t express how humble we are that people would think to leave their legacy with TeleMiracle and help so many people across the province,” he said.

Multiple people left messages of gratitude following a TeleMiracle Facebook post announcing Morgan’s donation.

“Eva has a very good heart to help so many,” Judy Poncelet wrote. “Thank you for your generosity.”

The donation “makes me cry, this will help so many people who need help,” said Sandra Lee Deener.

Video: The Investment Opportunities of Industrial Hemp

The fledgling U.S. hemp industry is decades behind countries like Canada, France and China, but according to impact investor and this week’s podcast guest, Pierre Berard, it could flourish into a $2.2 billion industry by 2030 and create thousands of jobs.

To reach its potential, what the hemp industry needs most right now, Berard said, is capital investment.

Last month, Berard published a report titled “Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity — A Pioneering Venture for Investors and Corporations Driven by Environmental, Social and Financial Concerns” in which he lays out the case for investment.

It’s as if Berard, with this report, is waving a giant flag, trying to attract the eyes of investors, saying, “Look over here. Look at all this opportunity.”

Berard likens the burgeoning American hemp industry to a developing country.

“There is no capital. People don’t want to finance. This is too risky. And I was like, OK, this sounds like something for me,” he said.

As an impact investor who manages funds specializing in agro-processing companies, Berard now has his sights set on the U.S. hemp industry, which he believes has great economic value as well as social and environmental benefits.

He spent many years developing investment in the agriculture infrastructure of developing countries in Latin America and Africa, and said the hemp industry feels similar.

“It is very nascent and it is a very fragmented sector. You have pioneers and trailblazers inventing or reinventing the field after 80 years of prohibition,” he said. “So I feel very familiar with this context.”

On this week’s hemp podcast, Berard talks about the report and the opportunities available to investors in the feed, fiber and food sectors of the hemp industry.

Building an industry around an agricultural commodity takes time, he said. According to the report, “The soybean industry took about 50 years to become firmly established, from the first USDA imports in 1898 to the U.S. being the top worldwide producer in the 1950s.”

Berard has a plan to accelerate the growth of the hemp industry and sees a four-pillar approach to attract investment.

First, he said, the foundation of the industry is the relationship between farmers and processors at the local level.

Second, he said the industry needs what he calls a “federating body” that will represent it, foster markets and innovations, and reduce risk for its members and investors.

The third pillar is “collaboration with corporations that aim to secure or diversify their supply chains with sustainable products and enhance their ESG credentials. This will be key to funding the industry and creating markets,” he said.

The fourth pillar is investment. Lots of it. Over $1.6 billion over seven years. This money will come from government, corporations, individual investors, and philanthropic donors.

The 75-page report goes into detail about the hemp industry, its environmental and social impact, and the opportunities available to investors.

Read the report here: Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity

Also on this episode, we check in with hemp and bison farmer Herb Grove from Brush Mountain Bison in Centre County, PA, where he grew 50 acres of hemp grain. We’ll hear about harvest and dry down and crushing the seed for oil and cake.