Food Grains Bank

On Sunday our Ministry and Personnel committee put on a lunch following worship. It was good to have a bowl of chili on a rainy, miserable day and eighty other people thought so too. The proceeds of the free-will offering were split between our congregation and the excellent work done by the Canadian Food Grains Bank.

The Food Grains Bank was started roughly twenty five years ago to contribute surplus Canadian grain to places in the world where people are hungry. A simple and very effective project. What is amazing is that it is a Christian initiative and fifteen denominations and church agencies are involved. Churches getting along for a good cause! I know you can detect some sarcasm here, but it is a minor miracle that groups as diverse as Adventists, Pentecostals, Christian Reformers, Roman Catholics and a bunch of others are cooperating to do what Jesus told us to do -- feed the hungry. The website for the Foodgrains bank states that it is

... rooted in the belief that humankind is created in the image of God and that it is God’s desire that no person should go hungry. The availability of food and access to that food is fundamental to life itself. Food is required to sustain life, to provide the strength for work, and to share in the fellowship of one’s family and community.

Over the quarter century more than one million metric tons of grain has been distributed to hungry people around the world. While the Food Grains Bank began with farmers sharing their excess grain, it has grown to include anyone who want to contribute to the cause.

This project has been adopted by our Sunday School and the congregation as a whole during our 175th anniversary year as a way of looking outward and expressing our thanks. Great idea!