Harvest season in Elm Creek brought in more than $46,000 for global food security this month after a local field was donated and harvested for charity.
The annual community harvest saw seven combines, three grain carts and several semi-trucks work together Sept. 10 to bring in a wheat crop from 80 acres generously donated by Helen Rempel. The effort supports Conquering Hunger Overseas Is Community Endeavor (CHOICE), a partner project of the Canada Foodgrains Bank (CFB). Volunteers, local farmers and community members donate their time, equipment and expertise each year to grow and sell the crop, with proceeds directed to hunger relief overseas.
“It was a beautiful sunny day on the afternoon of Wednesday, September 10 with seven combines, three grain carts and several semi’s and super b’s,” said CHOICE secretary Carolyn Koster. “Harvest commenced in the early afternoon and was done in approximately an hour. We are very thankful for the beautiful weather after the rains.”
The field averaged 83 bushels per acre, raising more than $46,000. Final figures will be confirmed at the end of the year.
“A thank you to all of our corporate donors for the donations of seed, chemical and fertilizer. As well as thanks to those that give of their time and equipment to keep the project going in season; and thanks to those that give financially,” Koster added. “We are thankful for you, our community, and your support of this growing project and the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.”
Koster also extended gratitude to Ian Lepp for coordinating field activities and the volunteer growers. Lepp said the field benefited from early seeding and favourable conditions.
“The field was seeded early and produced a nice wheat crop considering limited summer precipitation,” he said.
CHOICE funds are distributed among six food security projects supported by CFB. In 2024, the Foodgrains Bank raised $74 million through its partnerships with 15 Canadian churches and agencies, supporting 1.2 million people worldwide.
Among the beneficiaries is Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), which provides short- and long-term aid in 45 countries facing food crises. MCC receives 20 per cent of CHOICE harvest profits.
“One of our most important goals is to provide sustainable development in communities that need it most,” said Wesley Ncube, MCC Manitoba constituency relations coordinator. “In collaboration with other agencies such as Canada Foodgrains Bank and CHOICE, we provide relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ with the goal of ending global hunger.”
Ncube highlighted the success of a cultivation agriculture project overseas, where women learned new techniques to maximize crop yields with limited rainfall.
“They had very little rainfall so their crops were dry and were not doing well economically. We taught women to adopt new cultivation agriculture techniques so they could use the little rain they had to maximize their produce,” he said. One woman became a lead farmer while raising a family and began teaching others.
“Education is crucial and I am thankful to the farmers in our great province who support and partner with the work we do,” Ncube added. “Something may look small to someone, but it is a miracle to somebody else. Local farmers are just as important as the farmers we are working with all around the world.”
