A local initiative is bringing together urban dwellers and farmers to help ease suffering half a world away.

This year marks the second season for the Grow Hope Project, a unique effort of the Mennonite Central Committee, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, and Artel Farms of Niverville to take on the refugee crisis in Syria.

The Grow Hope Project is a community growing project with a difference. Rather than simply bringing together producers to grow food for the needy, Grow Hope seeks to involve city folks.

“The Grow Hope Project started last year,” explains MCC volunteer Ed Barkman. “It grew around the notion of growing projects being typically farmer-driven. The Grow Hope model involves urban people giving input cash.”

Grant Dyck, whose family owns and operates the 14,000-acre Artel Farms, was a driving force behind the project. Dyck says the idea has been marinating for years.

“The Canadian Foodgrains Bank has always been a part of our farm,” explains Dyck. “My father was part of it. My uncle helped start it. They offer the most efficient use of resources with regards to the sustainability of food aid.”

Barkman explains the project and why it has so much potential to make a difference in the parts of the world where this type of aid is most needed. “The money is raised primarily by urban folks, given to the farmer at $300 an acre. Grant grows and sells the crop and all the money goes into a donation. If they can sell it at something close to $500 an acre, that $300 donation becomes a $500 donation. Then with the government matching it becomes up to $1,500.”

In 2015, MCC applied the funds raised to a number of needy regions worldwide.

“The idea didn’t originally target any particular country, region, or disaster,” Barkman says. But this year, with the Syrian refugee crisis so top of mind, he says it made sense to concentrate efforts there. “The money is sent to Syria and neighbouring countries where displaced Syrians go, by supporting people displaced with the hope they may be able to stay there and eventually go home.”

In 2015, wheat was the project’s crop of choice. This year it was soybeans.

Dyck and company have a system in place that ensures donors see the highest return for their gift. “We call it first fruit. We use the highest average yield for that crop from the farm.” That way, the project is protected against the possibility of an underperforming field.

Dyck also points out that even though the bean crop came off in late September, there’s still time to support the project. “I’d like to keep it open for people until November 15,” he says. “The beans aren’t all sold until December, so people can still sponsor an acre if they want.”

David Turner, Communications Coordinator for MCC Manitoba, says people like Barkman and Dyck are the heart and soul of the Grow Hope Project.

“A lot of the initiative for this came from Grant,” says Turner. “The volunteers have put so much energy and enthusiasm into this.”

If you know Grant Dyck, you won’t be surprised to learn that his enthusiasm is only increasing and he sees a big future for the endeavour. Dyck points out that the initiative spread to two farms in Ontario and one in Saskatchewan this year, but he’s not willing to stop there.

“I’d like to see this really ramp up, where you’d drive down the TransCanada Highway and see the signs everywhere,” he says. “If this is well received and people are interested, the sky’s the limit. We could do 10,000 acres across the country.”

Dyck will consider including corporate donors in the future and involving both rural and Winnipeg schools in a way that would allow students to learn about agriculture and the world they live in at the same time.

“We’re bridging the urban/rural gap,” summarizes Dyck. “For a good cause.”