Letter to the Editor: Helping fight world hunger with Corner of Hope

To the Editor:

During the last twelve years, there has been a local organization, “Corner of Hope”, operating in this community. During those twelve years, over $300,000 has been raised. These funds are sent to the Food Resource Bank (FRB), a faith-based organization whose sole purpose is to help alleviate world hunger in the poorer regions of the world.

The funds we send are equally divided between Catholic Relief Services, Lutheran Relief and Church World Relief Services. These organizations then use these funds, not by giving food, but by showing them how to raise their own food. This can be done in a variety of ways; different and better seed, tillage practices, pest control and water management. In one instance, land was purchased by the FRB and parceled off and sold to the peasant farmers. This was done because the good agriculture land was owned by big corporations.

All of these programs and practices take money - and that’s where the “Corner of Hope” comes in. It is the fundraising arm of FRB. To raise funds, growing projects are used. A land owner or farmer either donates or rents land, at a reasonable rate, to the “Corner of Hope.”

Then individuals, churches and businesses can contribute to plant, fertilize and harvest the crop. Usually the crop is either corn, soybeans or hay. With all the donations, the crop is fully paid for and all the proceeds are used for helping solve world hunger.

We are actively looking for more growing projects and asking you to seriously consider this worthy project. We are having a meeting Tuesday, March 14 at 7 p.m. at the Zion United Church of Christ Church Hall. If you have any interest or questions, I invite you to attend. I think you will find it to be a very friendly, informal ecumenical organization.

Dennis Byrnes
Waukon