Project raises funds for Candian Foodgrains Bank, which provides emergency food assistance around the world 

Media release by Grow Hope Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan urban and rural residents will again come together to support people around the world who need emergency food assistance under one banner – Grow Hope Saskatchewan.

As Grow Hope Saskatchewan launches its fifth growing season, Rick Block, Regional Representative with Canadian Foodgrains Bank, says the initiative invites urban and rural dwellers to learn about farming and the collective responsibility to be good stewards of our resources – but there is a global impact too.

“Funds raised through the grain-growing project are used to support people around the world who need emergency food assistance, as well as improving long-term food security,” Block says. “Grow Hope Saskatchewan is a tangible way for productive land in Saskatchewan to have a direct and positive impact for many around the world who do not have access to food, the ‘bounty that comes from the land’,” he says.

How it works: Generous farmers in Saskatchewan have donated land and agreed to grow a crop for Grow Hope Saskatchewan. It costs $350 per acre to provide seed, fertilizer, fuel and other inputs. Donors from all walks of life are invited to sponsor a partial acre, full acre or multiple acres to help cover these costs. After harvest, the farmers sell the crop and donate the proceeds to Canadian Foodgrains Bank. The federal government matches these donations at four-to-one.

Michelle Hergott, a Grow Hope farmer near Bruno, Saskatchewan, says farmers have been gifted great abundance. Grow Hope Saskatchewan provides them an opportunity to share their passion.

“We are farmers and Grow Hope gives us the opportunity to help those in need while doing what we love to do,” she says. “Do you also feel a call within your heart to help this great organization to feed the world?” she asks.

Like Hergott, Block invites urban and rural people in Saskatchewan to help feed the world.

“Folks are invited to sponsor an acre for $350, which can result in proceeds up to $500 from the sale of that crop. This in turn may be matched 4:1 through the Canadian Foodgrains Bank’s Partnership with Global Affairs Canada,” says Block.

Find more information and/or sponsor an acre at the Grow Hope Saskatchewan website: www.growhopesk.ca

Development and Peace / Caritas Canada is one of the partner agencies that work together on this project. To donate to D & P’s account with this project, Catholics can write a cheque to “Development and Peace” ear-marked for “Grow Hope Saskatchewan” in the memo line and mail it to:  Development & Peace – Caritas Canada, 1425 René-Lévesque Blvd West, 3rd Floor, Montreal QC. H3G 1T7 or call 416-922-1592 (Extension 225) to donate by phone.

 

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