Overseas aid: Stories of hardship and hope

Canadian Foodgrains Bank, along with MCC and World Renew, make a difference for hungry people around the world

  • Dec. 11, 2014 12:00 p.m.
Aleuk Biore and her baby girl Dorcas fled their homes because of war, and now live in Budi County, South Sudan.

Aleuk Biore and her baby girl Dorcas fled their homes because of war, and now live in Budi County, South Sudan.

Canadian Foodgrains Bank recently distributed a special section through The News, documenting some of the overseas aid it delivers with the help of such agencies as the Mennonite Central Committee.

To see the full section online, click here

Here in Canada, most of us are blessed. We have enough food to live strong and healthy lives.

This isn’t the case for many people in the developing world, where about 800 million people don’t have enough to eat.

Surprisingly, about half of those who are hungry are farmers. Sometimes they are hungry because war has pushed them off their land, or drought prevents crops from growing.

Even under the best conditions, farmers in the developing world work hard to produce their crops. But despite their hard work, they often can’t grow enough to feed their families due to lack of training, tools and other investments, and because of degraded soils and changing weather patterns.

Through Canadian Foodgrains Bank, agencies like Mennonite Central Committee and World Renew, together with the Foodgrains Bank’s 13 other member agencies, are making a difference for hungry people around the world.

We do this through programs that meet emergency food needs; that provide training and agricultural support for farmers; and that provide nutrition programs for children and mothers. Last year the Foodgrains Bank provided $42 million of food and other assistance for 1.3 million people in 42 countries.

Inside this special supplement you can meet some of the people who benefitted from help provided by the Foodgrains Bank and its member agencies — stories of hardship, but also of hope.

This Christmas season, as you celebrate the good gifts you have received, we invite you to remember those who don’t have enough to eat by making a donation to Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Information about how you can make a difference in the lives of hungry people can be found on the back cover.

The work of the Foodgrains Bank is made possible with support from the Canadian government, which annually provides a matching grant of $25 million.

Abbotsford News