By Michael LeBlanc, Provincial Animator, Development and Peace-Caritas Canada
[This August 26, 2024 edition of The Caragana online bulletin is re-published with permission.]
How big is a million? My wife introduced me to an adorable children’s book in which a young penguin called Pipkin seeks to answer this hard question. This is an important question, and not just for young Pipkin and his friends. We often hear numbers related to natural and human made disasters, and our minds can often struggle to comprehend.
There are 120 million people who are forcibly displaced from their homes. Why is this number significant? It’s because when people are forced to leave their homes they necessarily become food insecure and often go hungry as a result. According to the United Nations, some 828 million people are affected by hunger worldwide, counting up closer and closer each year to 1 billion.
Because of my job, I am exposed to numbers like these every day. It is in this context that I am happy to share the good news — you can do something about this.
In setting up an information table for Grow Hope Saskatchewan at the Bruno Cherry Festival, I knew that this would be a big day for connections.
There would be two lucky winners, one for a “goodie basket” of items donated by various organizations, the other for a gorgeous toy tractor donated by Hergott Farm Equipment in Humboldt. I would encounter old and new friends. Some would stay a little while at the booth, while others would sign up to learn more and potentially get involved. But above all the connection between Saskatchewan and far away places would become just a little bit stronger.
My wife, Julie LeBlanc, stands at the table providing information for a curious onlooker (left), while obvious signs of coveting Hergott Farm Equipment’s donated tractor are on display (right). There would only be one lucky young winner at the end of the day. (Photo by Michael LeBlanc)
There are five participating agencies for Grow Hope Saskatchewan, representing folks from Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Mennonite and Presbyterian congregations (but also including donations and efforts from those well beyond).
All projects funded by Grow Hope Saskatchewan are coordinated through the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and have three important themes:
- Immediate food relief — the next meal a starving person might need.
- Training and access to resources to grow food — fighting food insecurity in the long term.
- Focusing projects on nursing and pregnant mothers — those often most impacted by hunger.
From left to right: Rick Guenther of MCC, Myron Rogal of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon, and yours truly stand at the Grow Hope info booth. Watermelon, far right, was enjoyed by all on the hot, sunny day!
I represented Grow Hope Saskatchewan at the Bruno Cherry Festival along with Rick Guenther from Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and Myron Rogal, Coordinator of the Office of Justice and Peace in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon.
Grow Hope Saskatchewan empowers everyday people of Saskatchewan to fight hunger through the generous donation of 411 acres of grain by Saskatchewan farming families. After the grain is sold at market prices, the money raised is often matched 4:1 by the Government of Canada. To help the farming families out with the cost of growing the food, organizations like Development and Peace collect “sponsorships” at $350 an acre to cover things like fuel, seed, and fertilizer. Any extra at the end of the year is simply rolled into the final project total.
Feeding people isn’t easy, which is why 100% of the food aid work is done in target countries by local specialists who know the best way to help the most people.
On the other hand, raising money for food is straightforward, and provides a higher yield with Grow Hope Saskatchewan; with this project, a simple donation of $350 will help a farmer sell as much as $600 worth of grain. The Government of Canada can then match this raising the total to $3,000. Using Development and Peace’s project in Gaza as an example, the amount of $20, which a generous woman spontaneously donated on Cherry Sunday, could provide 39 meals. We gratefully accept donations of any amount.
So, to Pipkin the Penguin’s question, how much is a million? Grow Hope Saskatchewan Agencies and Farmers have raised more than over $1,003,000 from the rich earth of Saskatchewan for hungry people around the world since 2017.
I don’t know all the impact that this $1 million has done. The ongoing partnership with the Government of Canada Match means you can often multiply by 5 (depending on the project, some are by 3, some are by more than 5). All of our programs incorporate farming training and local empowerment as much as possible.
There is also always a multiplicative “snowball” effect throughout each of these efforts, as helped and helping people are inspired to help more people.
A few of the 150 Somalian women who were recently provided with tools and plots of irrigated land recline and share a moment together. After receiving the resources necessary to grow a crop, they will be organized into savings and loans groups to continue their financial success well into the future. (Submitted photo)
May we have a harvest full of joy this year, stretching all the way from Bruno, Saskatchewan to countless communities around the world.
Donate online: Use this link to DONATE NOW
Donate via cheque: Send to Development and Peace, 1425 René-Lévesque Blvd. West, 3rd Floor, Montreal QC H3G 1T7 (Include written on Cheque: Grow Hope Saskatchewan)
Donate via telephone (make sure to mention that the donation is for Grow Hope SK): 1 888-234-8533
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(Michael LeBlanc is the Development and Peace-Caritas Canada Provincial Animator for Saskatchewan and Keewatin-Le Pas. Read more about his role: LINK.)