The Grossnickle Growing Project has been supported by donation of the use of 55 acres of cropland and individual sponsorships of acres of the land, to subsidize the cost of production: seeds, fertilizer, spray, tilling, planting and harvesting. Business sponsorships are Gladhill Tractor Mart in Jefferson and the John Deere Foundation, and Steve Burdette, illustrator. A start-up grant was also provided by the Church of the Brethren’s Global Food Crisis Fund. All proceeds from the sale of the crops will be donated to the Foods Resource Bank and designated for a specific program. These funds will be matched 100% by USAID, the government agency responsible for providing assistance to the developing world.

The Growing Project committee has designated a program in the Bamba region of Southeast Kenya to receive their funds. This is an extremely poor area, just 30 miles inland from the Indian Ocean, where drought conditions exist for ten months of the year. Wells cannot be dug because the water is too salty; women walk 6 miles to fetch a pail of water for household use. The goal of this program is to construct large ponds for irrigation and household use, to teach the people how to grow drought-resistant crops, soil and water conservation techniques, and improved breeds of animals and animal husbandry practices. According to the onsite coordinator of the program, “our overall vision is to raise a generation of children who will know what it is like to have enough food to eat, whose thinking capacity is not hampered by lack of nutritious food, who will be stewards of the land God has given them, and who will give God the glory for their lives of abundance.”