Federal grant gives Foodgrains Bank ‘extra heft’

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This article was published 09/12/2021 (470 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CANADIAN Foodgrains Bank, a Winnipeg-based international relief and development organization, has received a three-year grant worth $75 million from the federal government.

The grant, announced Monday, will enhance the organization’s work to end global hunger. International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan said the Foodgrains Bank has been an important partner for the Canadian government since 1983.

Through the grant, the Canadian government will provide the Foodgrains Bank with “predictable and multi-year funding” that “help ensure that those who need it most will receive the food and nutrition support they urgently require,” the minister said.

It is about more than just “providing food,” he added. It’s also about creating a future for children who will, one day, be able to “provide the means and be able to help others as well.”

For Foodgrains Bank executive director Andy Harrington, the grant means the organization can continue to provide emergency food assistance in the developing world.

“It’s the renewal of a relationship we’ve had for many years,” he said, adding, “It will ensure our continued humanitarian work in the most needy parts of the world.”

Support from the Canadian government is more important than ever, Harrington said, since about 760 million people don’t get enough to eat and 41 million are at risk of famine due to the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict or climate change.

“Things are very serious for many people,” he said, adding, for donors, the grant also means their contributions will go further.

“Donations for our humanitarian work will be matched four-to-one by this grant,” he said. “It enables Canadians to make an even greater difference around the world.”

Rick Cober Bauman, executive director of Mennonite Central Committee — one of the 15 member agencies that belong to the Foodgrains Bank — agreed.

The biggest impact of the grant is how it enables “incredible leveraging” for donors, he said. “There is extra heft,” in how the funds are used by Foodgrains Bank members for food-related programs around the world.

“It amplifies the work of MCC and all the Foodgrains Bank members.”

In its 2020-21 budget year, the Foodgrains Bank provided $49 million of food-related assistance for 989,045 people in 33 countries.

In addition to support from the Canadian government, it received donations of $16.2 million from across Canada. More than $6 million of that total came from Manitoba residents.

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