The Church of the Brethren’s Global Food Initiative (GFI) has given its latest round of grants to support food ministries at four Church of the Brethren congregations in Illinois and Ohio; the Beyond Abundance Program of Phahama Grain Phakama in South Africa; and the purchase of electric mills for indigenous Amazon communities to grind cassava, via the Church of the Brethren in Venezuela.
Find out more about this ministry at www.brethren.org/gfi.
Support these grants with your financial donations at https://churchofthebrethren.givingfuel.com/gfi.
Champaign Church of the Brethren
A grant of $9,200 supports food ministries at Champaign (Ill.) Church of the Brethren–which is located in an area designated as a “food desert”–including the Randolph Street Community Garden and multiple outreach programs such as food distribution and job training for students.
The Randolph Street Community Garden provides fresh vegetables to pantry recipients, allows 48 households space to grow their own food, and supplies produced for sale at the church’s Garden Market.
The Job Training Program in conjunction with the school district is offered for students age 14 to 19, who learn how to grow, cook, and preserve food in addition to other life skills.
Recently the church has experienced increased demand for garden and food-related resources due to rising community needs, poverty, and government cuts. It has sought additional funding to expand the community garden, support its emergency food pantry, repair picnic tables, and train high school students vocationally.
East Dayton Fellowship
Two grants totaling $7,000 have been given to the church garden and food pantry projects of East Dayton Fellowship, a Church of the Brethren and Brethren in Christ congregation in Dayton, Ohio.
The grants will fund the purchase of fresh produce for food pantry clients, supplementing existing food pantry offerings by providing funds to purchase produce through local farms and to support transportation costs, and will help expand the church garden and support workshops and community events focused on gardening and food security.
The church plans to provide fresh produce to approximately 50 families every other week for 20 weeks. The pantry serves approximately 150 families each week, but not all are interested in or able to utilize fresh produce. The garden expansion includes additional raised beds and other garden supplies, new shelving and materials for the food pantry.
Happy Corner Church of the Brethren
A grant of $2,968 supports two food programs of Happy Corner Church of the Brethren in Clayton, Ohio. Since 2011, the congregation has hosted a free Monday Night Meal with attendance ranging from 70 to 80 people. In 2024, the congregation served approximately 3,525 meals through the program, which is staffed by volunteers. Also, two Blessing Boxes or mini food pantries have existed on the church property for two years, supported by members of the church and community. A collection bin in the narthex receives donations and volunteers help keep the boxes stocked. Due to rising food costs, the church has sought financial support for these ministries. This grant will fund essential kitchen equipment and supplies, a wagon cart to transport groceries to the Blessing Boxes, essential food items that are not donated in sufficient quantities for the boxes, and groceries for the Monday Night Meals.
Freeport Church of the Brethren
A grant of $2,500 supports the community meal and food pantry at Freeport (Ill.) Church of the Brethren. The free community meal is provided every month from September to May, prepared and served by members of the church. Additionally, the church provides meals to a homeless shelter. In total, the congregation serves between 70 to 100 meals each month. The church recently started a small food pantry, which is available to meal attendees.
South Africa
A grant of $15,000 supports the Beyond Abundance Program of Phahama Grain Phakama (PGP, translated “Rise, Grain, Rise”) in South Africa. This nonprofit within the broader GrainSA (GSA, GrainSouthAfrica) supports Black grain farmers through technical assistance and training to become sustainable and productive producers.
A pilot project in Driefontein, Mpumalanga Province, seeks to introduce equipment to subsistence farmers to optimize the threshing, milling, storage, and trading of their maize yields. The agricultural sector in South Africa faces unique challenges due to the economic disparities created under apartheid, with both large commercial farmers and more than 1,000,000 subsistence farmers with very poor yields who struggle to feed their families. Helping subsistence farmers produce more food on small parcels of land will lead to greater food security.
Communities in Driefontein will be provided with mobile Mealie Threshers and mobile Mealie Milling Machines and subsistence farmers taking part in the pilot project will receive sturdy and waterproof longterm storage bins to preserve their grain. The program requires that subsistence farmers contribute resources to the project; these farmers must provide 80 percent of their input costs, and they take responsibility for the planting, management, and selling of the crop. A small amount of the grant will fund administrative and logistical support.
Venezuela
A grant of $6,600 supports the purchase of electric mills for indigenous Amazon communities to grind cassava, via ASIGLEH (the Church of the Brethren in Venezuela). ASIGLEH is ministering to the Sanema, Jivis, and Piapoco ethnic groups of the Caura River Basin, Bolívar State, Curripaco of Bolívar State, Wayuú of Zulia State and border with Colombia, and Warao of the Orinoco River of Delta Amacuro State.
The bitter cassava tuber is a staple food for indigenous communities in the Amazon. It is processed by hand, grated and squeezed so that all the liquid is fully removed due to the cyanide that is present in it. It is then converted into flour and made into cake or bread. This arduous and time-consuming work was traditionally carried out by the women and mothers of each family.
The grant will purchase six mechanized, electric cassava mills allowing six indigenous communities to process their staple food more quickly and facilitate its safe consumption. The mills also will make it possible for cassava cakes to be sold, if community members seek to market their products. ASIGLEH will provide training on the use and maintenance of the mills.
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