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 | | Volunteers at Fraser Valley Gleaners |
Fraser Valley Gleaners (FVG) is situated amongst the
verdant farmlands that surround Abbotsford. In an innovative way they
receive donated produce and, with volunteer labour, produce nutritious
dried food packs for overseas relief organizations. They produce about
seven million food servings annually, mostly in the form of dried soup.
FVG’s 7,600 square foot facility is owned
by their partner, the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).
To cut, dice and prepare the donated produce, FVG
is totally dependent on an army of volunteers (up to 200 every week), many
of whom are seniors.
“God has blessed Canadians with an abundant food
supply, with large quantities of produce that remain unharvested or are not
marketable domestically,” said plant manager Carl Goosen. Every
bag of dried produce that goes out has ‘In Christ’s Name’
on it.
Along with a backbone of seniors, other volunteers
include youth, home school families, school groups and scouts.
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According to Goosen, volunteers have the satisfaction
of knowing their work actually translates to producing 146 servings per
hour. Some days, 4,000 lbs of produce is placed in specialized dryers
for five to 10 hours.
The nutritional value of the food is carefully
monitored to be very high, with onions highly valued for flavour;
surprisingly, garlic is not used, being disliked by some communities. All
food is sent overseas and thus represents no commercial threat to
suppliers.
FVG food is being sent to many countries, including
Afghanistan, Argentina, Bolivia, Bosnia, Columbia, Ethiopia, North Korea,
Sudan and Zambia. More than 30 relief organizations work with FVG,
including: MCC, Canadian Food for the Hungry, Adventist Development &
Relief Agency, Eurovangelism/Euroaid, Global Aid Network, Power to Change
and Youth With A Mission.
FVG is always looking for more volunteers (Monday to
Friday, 8:30 am – noon).
For information contact: 1.604.870.9272 or
www.fvgleaners.org.
– Peter Biggs
January 2008
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