2009 Crop Supports Tamil Refugees

Our 2009 flax crop was donated to help provide food security for Tamil people displaced by war in the North of Sri Lanka. The crop was sold for $14,441, all of which was donated. The Canadian International Development Agency matched our donation 4:1, resulting in $72,205 total aid generated by the project. The overseas project is being administered by Elaine Bumstead with Nazarene Compassionate Ministries. She explains that the donation will “feed hungry people in our world and in particular these Tamil peoples who are so traumatized by war, who have lost everything including loved ones, and who are now destitute and facing the prospects of returning to homes and land which were damaged or destroyed, to start over.” The overseas project was started in mid-June 2009 by Nazarene Compassionate Ministries to provide rice, dahl, oil, sugar, salt and vegetables for 20,000 people in a camp (Manek farm camp) in the North of Sri Lanka near Vavuniya. The original $589,810 was funded through Canadian Foodgrains Bank with the support of The Salvation Army, World Relief Canada, Christian and Missionary Alliance, and the Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada. When the initial money ran out additional funding was provided by the Presbyterian Church, The Salvation Army, and the Catholic Church. Photo of typical distribution of cooked food (not Manek Camp)