Earlier in the year, the Dauphin & District Food Bank was donated 70 acres of land by the City of Dauphin, and numerous community groups and businesses made donations to help grow a crop, and sell it for profit for the food bank. Yesterday, the food bank announced that fundraiser ended up generating $39,003.37.
Don Dewar, Owner of Dewar Seed Farms, is a former food bank board member. He was one of the partners involved in the project - he helped with seeding the land, and contributed both equipment and labour to make sure the project went well. When he heard the total raised, he was a bit surprised, in a good way. Looking ahead, he said he hopes the food bank will want to run this project again next year, and if they do, he'll be ready.
"Well, it's a little more than I thought it would be, but I guess prices had gone up, and there was no cost to the food bank, so it was all clear profit for them...we're hoping the food bank is going to request to rend the land or use the land again," said Dewar.
There's no doubt the project's success was in large part because of all the donations the food bank received. Some of them include Dewar's contributions, Intermountain Ag Supply providing seed and crop protection products, Dauphin Co-op contributing fuel and fertilizer, and Cargill Grain handling the delivery and purchase of the crop after harvest. Dewar said one of the most notable was the City of Dauphin, who donated the land, and allowed the food bank to use it rent-free.
"[The City] actually allowed them to use it rent-free, which was another big plus, no cost for the land...it's only 70 acres, so when you think about it, it's not a lot, but really there was probably close to $30,000 worth of inputs that were donated," said Dewar.
The Dauphin & District Food Bank is always looking for volunteers and donations. If you'd like to get involved, you can reach them at 204-638-7853.
