It's the third edition of the Adopt an Acre fundraiser for the Manitoba Ag Museum at Austin. Canadian Foodgrains Bank and Heritage Harvest Growing project secretary Elliott Sims says the museum has 65 acres where wheat is grown for a good cause.

"On years when we're growing wheat, we have higher crop input expenses for fertilizer, chemical, and whatnot. So, in 2024, we've initiated a program called the Adopt an Acre program and we're looking for 65 people to donate $100 apiece to help cover those costs so that 100 per cent of the crop sale proceeds can go to support our parent organizations, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and the Manitoba Agricultural Museum." 

Combine

He explains the Museum owns the land, and it provides it to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank to help end world hunger. 

"It has a local committee that farms the field and raises the crop. We are just over the halfway mark at 33 acres sold. We're looking for another 32 people to help us out by adopting an acre. We've run in an 'Adopt an Acre' program both in 2020 and 2022 and in both those years, we reached our goal of raising $6500."

Combine

He notes if you're willing to donate, the $100 per acre will provide you with a tax-deductible receipt, and it's an easy process.  

"You can go to our website, HeritageHarvestManitoba.ca, and donate through the Canada Helps website. We just seeded the crop in the last couple of weeks here. Those bills will be coming in in the next month and we're hoping we can achieve our goals by the end of June to pay those costs off." 

fields
Sims adds it's a great fundraiser for both the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and the Manitoba Agriculture Museum. He says the last seven growing seasons they were able to raise $180,000 for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and the Manitoba Agricultural Museum thanks to generous in kind support by local farmers.

"That funding is then applied toward government granting programs, which means that it's stretched even more to support those two great causes. So, every dollar you provide through the Adopt an Acre program gets leveraged multiple times before it's contributed to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank or the Manitoba Agriculture Museum, which is a great way to build support for these great organizations." 

You can donate by:

  • Credit card via CanadaHelps webpage 
  • E-transfer to heritageharvestmb@gmail.com, or
  • Cheques made out to “Heritage Harvest Committee” and mailed to Heritage Harvest Committee Box 10 Austin, MB R0H 0C0
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