wfn.org | (LWF) Canadian Lutherans Partner in World*s Leading

["Frank Imhoff" <franki@elca.org>]

LWF Tenth Assembly, Winnipeg, Canada, 21-31 July 2003

PRESS RELEASE NO. 18

Canadian Lutherans Partner in World's Leading Foodgrains Bank
Working Together to Fight Hunger and Poverty

WINNIPEG, Canada, 25 July 2003 * Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR) teams
up with 12 other Canadian agencies to make the Canadian Foodgrains Bank one
of the largest private food aid providers in the world with more than 800,000
metric tons of grains annually.  The goal of this initiative is to enable
Canadians, working through the agencies and their respective overseas
partners, to fight hunger and poverty, according to Jim Cornelius, the bank's
executive director.

CLWR officials told visitors from the Tenth Assembly of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) that church members, including farmers and school children,
participate enthusiastically in this program.

Farmers donate up to 20,000 tons of grains every year through their community
growing efforts, according to Richard Philips, CLWR communications director.
A farmer may donate land, others may pitch in with machinery and other
inputs, while urban people raise money toward shipping, he said.  
 
Other farmers, church members and the public send grain to major collection
centers and deposit cash donations into designated accounts of Canadian
church agencies or into a general account, which can be used by all members.
For every dollar they raise, the Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA) gives four dollars, Philips said.

School children learn and show what it means to be displaced in a civil war,
to live in constant fear of being abducted or killed, or to be a victim of
drought or floods.  Thi way the spirit of helping the less advantaged will be
kept alive from generation to generation, according to Philips.

Church agencies working with CLRW in the Canadian Foodgrains Bank include the
Adventist Relief and Development Agency, Canadian Baptist Ministries,
Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada, Christian Reformed World Relief
Committee, Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada, Mennonite Central
Committee, Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, Pentecostal Assemblies of
Canada, Presbyterian World Service and Development, the Salvation Army,
United Church of Canada and World Relief Canada.

Participating agencies work with their overseas partners to develop projects
and then draw out resources or equity from their "accounts" to support the
projects, which include food aid, seed distribution, food security and
complementary nutrition activities.

According to guidelines, the bank favors aid that "appropriately addresses
immediate needs and contributes towards long-term food security."

When distributed appropriately, with actions to avoid negative outcomes such
as dependency, "food aid helps to protect productive assets and reduce
further impoverishment * a first step toward investment to overcome poverty,"

Food security funds are used to support activities other than food aid and
seed distribution.  The bank's approach to food security includes the
promotion of agricultural research and extension built on indigenous
knowledge and the recognition of the central role of women in most food
systems.

The CLWR is the service delivery arm for overseas development programing and
relief for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and Lutheran
Church-Canada.	CLWR works with community-based organizations in Africa,
Asia, Latin America and the Middle East through partnership with local
non-governmental organizations, churches and the LWF.

The Tenth Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is taking place
21-31 July 2003 in Winnipeg, Canada, under the theme "For the Healing of
theWorld." It is being hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
(ELCIC).

There are almost 800 men, women and youth participants in the Tenth Assembly
including 369 delegates from the 133 churches with full membership and three
associate members. The Assembly is the highest decision-making body of the
LWF, and meets normally every six years. Between Assemblies, the LWF is
governed by its Council that meets annually, and by its Executive Committee. 

Further information including photos, video and audio news, is posted on the
Assembly Web site www.lwf-assembly.org

To order photographs, please contact LWF-Photo@lutheranworld.org

*	*	*

The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 136 member
churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7 million of the 65.4 million
Lutherans worldwide. 

The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest
such as ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission
and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.