The Church of the Brethren’s Global Food Initiative (GFI) has announced its first two grants for 2021, supporting a pig project of the Church of the Brethren in Rwanda and a community garden of St. Peter Lutheran Church in Southport, N.C.
Rwanda
A grant of $3,500 will purchase feed for a pig project of the Church of the Brethren in Rwanda, where pandemic-related border closings with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have doubled the cost of feed. Previous grants to this project, made in 2019 and 2020, total $30,000. This year the “passing the gift” phase of the project begins, in which animals from a central farm established in the project’s first year will be given to Twa families. The Twa people are a major outreach focus of the Brethren in Rwanda. The plan is to distribute 180 pigs to 90 families over the next three years.
North Carolina
The St. Peter Lutheran Church Community Garden has received $1,000 from the GFI, which is one of four funding partners including the congregation. Total budget for the establishment of this “Giving Garden” is $8,500. The garden is designed to be a connection for the senior citizens and youth of the community while promoting fresh vegetables. “Youth and seniors will together experience the wholesomeness of gardening along with the fellowship and satisfaction of physical work,” said the grant announcement. “Volunteers from the church and community will support the effort, and the church has reached out to high school service groups and county juvenile services to find youth to participate.”
Find out more about the GFI and how to give financial support at www.brethren.org/gfi.
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