Foods Resource Bank

A Christian Response to World Hunger. Foods Resource Bank (FRB) is a Christian, non-government, humanitarian organization committed to providing food security in the developing world through sustainable small-scale agricultural production, thereby allowing hungry people to know the dignity and pride of feeding themselves.

Harvest Day October 22, 2006

It was a sunny, cold, windy Sunday when the crop of field corn was to be harvested. .Farmers of Mendota, Illinois set aside 100 acres  for use to help struggling people become independent food producers. The Mendota farmland is used to raise crops that are be harvested and then sold. The money from the sale of the grain is used in developing countries to purchase fertilizer, irrigation equipment, and seed.

This is just one of the many local Foods Resource Banks  that make up the international organization headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In Illinois there are about 30 growing projects.

Delaware, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Wisconsin  are states where there are growing projects in the USA.

In 2005, FRB supported 56 overseas programs in 30 countries involving over 360,000 beneficiaries at an annual cost of only $5.37 per person. FRB is present in Angola, Armenia, Bolivia, Bosnia, Cambodia, Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, India, Kenya, Laos, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Palestine, Peru, Serbia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia; and have successfully completed programs in Colombia, DRC, Gambia, Ghana, Honduras, Kenya, N. Korea, Senegal and Zambia.

After the religious service, sheltered by the cold wind by a tent, the combines start to warm up in preparation for harvesting the corn.

With all of the combines working the field, it does not take long to harvest all of the corn. The corn was loaded into the waiting 18 wheel grain trucks.

Paul Beetz and Steve Beetz are the farmers who lead the Mendota Area Foods Resource Bank.