FARM TOUR … GHG Growing Project leader and area farmer Cork Rufenacht hosted a tour of his opera-tion.
By: Amy Wendt
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
Members of the agricultural community and area churches in Fulton and Williams Counties recently gathered in Archbold for the Growing Hope Globally (GHG) Summer Celebration.
The three-day event held from Thursday, August 3 through Saturday, August 5 brought together farmers and mission agency representatives not only from the immediate area but from all over the U.S. and even the world.
Growing Hope Globally is a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit organization dedicated to raising resources and awareness to aid smallholder farmers in developing nations.
Its objective is to address hunger by focusing on agricultural development in some of the world’s poorest countries.
By bringing together farmers, churches, and civic organizations funds are raised for sustainable food security programs in these regions.
After two days of GHG board meetings beginning on Thursday, 100+ attendees took the opportunity on Friday to visit the ag operation of GHG Growing Project leaders and local area farmers Jim and Cork Rufenacht of rural Archbold. Many also visited the Turkeyfoot Creek Creamery of rural Wauseon.
On Friday evening, GHG members and area churches hosted the organization’s annual Burger Bash at the Ruihley Park Pavilion treating 250 guests to a meal of hamburgers, baked beans, coleslaw, chips, and ice cream.
Archbold FFA had the honor of grilling the burgers for the crowd while volunteers from approximately 10 area churches pitched in to fund the dinner and provided hands to help with setup and serving.
Following the meal, guests heard a brief overview presentation about the GHG organization, and then comedy magician Jim Barron of WBCL took the stage to provide entertainment.
On Saturday, the group got back down to business where they convened at the West Clinton Mennonite church for a day of strategic planning for the organization’s future.
GHG members also received informational updates from one of their partners located in Honduras.
Archbold area farmer Jim Rufenacht, who serves on the Growing Hope Globally board and is also a Growing Project leader for the organization says the annual Summer Celebrations are held in different locations yearly and the last time Archbold hosted the event was in 2007.
The organization, which has its roots in Northwest Ohio, was founded in 1999 under the name Food Resource Bank (FRB) by Vernon and Carol Sloan when the couple recognized an opportunity to put their abundance to use.
“The Sloans were instrumental in gathering a group of people together to get it started,” Rufenacht shared.
In the organization’s beginning, the Sloans invited neighboring farmers to help fight hunger in third-world countries by shipping corn from their own fields to those in need.
However, they soon recognized the exorbitant shipping costs were much more than the value of the crop itself.
In search of a viable alternative, the organization began collaborating with Christian organizations such as Lutheran World Relief, Catholic Relief Services, Mennonite Central Committee, and others that specialize in international food security programs.
Their solution was to allocate the proceeds from crops or other ag products sold in the U.S. towards supporting agricultural development initiatives abroad.
The concept has since expanded into a network of community-based Growing Projects. “GHG does not send people overseas to do this work,” Rufenacht noted. Rather, they fund agriculture development overseas.
The majority of the funds and training are directed towards initiatives like ensuring access to clean water in remote villages, implementing improved breeding techniques for livestock, introducing better grasses for grazing, and enhancing practices related to nutrition and farming.
There are 20-30 Williams and Fulton County area farmers who participate in GHG Growing Projects and many others across the country whose profits help fund these initiatives.
When a farmer chooses to participate in a Growing Project, they allocate a portion of their cropland or livestock to the organization. Support from churches, agribusinesses, or FFA chapters often comes in the form of financial aid or labor.
After selling the crop or animal, the farmer donates the proceeds to Growing Hope Globally who then allows the donor to choose which of the organization’s partnering programs they would like to support.
Rufenacht noted that since the GHG program started in 1999 it has made over 2 million people food secure.
“It is substantial. We basically say for $55 we can make a person food secure in third-world countries. You talk about getting bang for your buck…this is a deal.”
Anyone can be involved in GHG and there are opportunities for farmers, ag business professionals, seed dealers, churches, FFA organizations, or anyone with an interest in the mission. Visit https://www.growinghopeglobally.org/get-involved/ to learn more.
Amy can be reached at amy@thevillagereporter.com