Local market feeds people around the world

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Published on Saturday, September 5, 2015

By Esther Krahn

Submitted article

For the past five years a variety of people from the Rivers area have participated in a farmer’s market that has been held in the parking lot of Westoba Credit Union. All proceeds from these sales have been given to Acres of Hope, which is the local growing project for Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB). CFGB is a faith-based Canadian charity which is comprised of membership from 15 different denominations and organizations to help address the food needs of thousands of  hungry people around the world. In a recent CFGB report they state that through their member agencies, “We committed $41 million in funding to 125 projects in 39 countries that benefitted approximately 1.1 million people in this last year. While the prevalence of hunger in the world is declining, thanks to programs like CFGB, there are still almost 800 million people around the world who still remain chronically hungry. The Canadian government has generously supported CFGB through the years with their funding support of $4 for every $1 raised.

Together with donations os $730 and sale of vegetables and baking of $945.55, the sale raised a total of $1,675.55 for Acres of Hope. A field of wheat in the Oak River district will be harvested later in the summer, with all proceeds also going to Acres of Hope. 

The farmer’s market garden project was originally started by Esther Krahn and her nine grandchildren, but has now grown to include many other supportive local families. The community has also been very supportive in coming to the sales to purchase fresh vegetables and homemade flour and baking. It has been a great experience for those involved and many life lessons have been learned. The main goal was to help the children understand that even though they are young, they can work hard to help hungry people around the world. It is easy to be overwhelmed by the needs around the world and conclude there is nothing one can do to make a difference. This market garden experience proves that even a small project can make a big difference. Since the project was started five years ago, a total of $8,809 has been donated to Acres of Hope, so with government matching, the project has generated approximately $44,045 of food aid around the world.

I would like to thank my family, especially the grandkids, for their work and support of the project. Many other local families have also been involved, as has Westoba, Peter’s Market Garden from Virden and Deerboine Colony. Vegetables that were left after the sale this year were donated to Teen Challenge, a program in the southeast corner of Riverdale Municipality, and to Helping Hands in Brandon, which provides a daily meal to nearly 200 people in that city.