Catholic and Anglican agencies join Canadian Foodgrains Bank
Renée Joette Friesen
Manitoba Correspondent
WINNIPEG, MB—The voice of Canadian Christians fighting to end world hunger just got stronger.
Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) recently announced that two new members have joined their ranks-the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP) and the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund of the Anglican Church of Canada.
CFGB welcomed the two new member agencies on June 21, bringing the number of church-based agencies engaged in their mission to 15, and strengthening Canada's Christian representation for global social justice.
"With this we become a larger Christian voice regarding world hunger. We are now speaking on behalf of most Christian denominations in Canada. Despite our doctrinal differences, when it comes to dealing with hunger we agree," says executive director Jim Cornelius.
CFGB is a non-governmental organization that works with its member agencies and their local partners to offer direct food aid, nutrition programs and food justice education, as well as distribute seeds and tools at the community level. The joint effort benefits some 1.3 million people in 17 countries worldwide.
With these new additions, CFGB now embodies evangelical, Protestant and Roman Catholic churches, with more than 17,000 congregations and parishes working together to end hunger in developing countries.
"We are a joint resource for the broader Canadian church," Cornelius says. The CFGB, which the Mennonite Central Committee initiated in 1983 with just five church agencies, now works across denominational lines. The organization provides resources and technical expertise to mobilize churches involved in global relief efforts.
"At the core of the work is a common commitment to the human right to food," says Cheryl Curtis, executive director of the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund. "We value this opportunity to join with other church-based development and relief agencies in programming and advocacy to increase food security and food justice in our world."
The CCODP also wants to augment the work it already does in fighting global poverty and hunger through this partnership.
"Our work will be strengthened by this outstanding opportunity to work in solidarity and fellowship with so many other Canadian church-based agencies towards achieving this common goal," says Michael Casey, executive director.
Over the past 40 years, CCODP has worked directly with organizations made up of, or representing, the poor and marginalized in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
"This is more than a mere partnership," says Casey. "We see our own institutional goals and goals of CFGB as complementary and inspired by gospel values. We both support initiatives by people in the Global South to take control of their lives, so that in both the short-term and long-term, they may live active, productive and healthy lives."
