Reaping What They Sow
Canadian Lions Aid Hungry in Developing Nations
by Jay Copp

The late September morning broke cold and gray with dreaded snowflakes and then potentially ruinous rain—hardly ideal harvesting weather. “You want it hot and sunny, so the wheat is dry and it doesn’t jam the machines,” says Lion Kevin Gibbons of Calgary, Alberta.

His club, the Cheadle Lions, had planted 190 acres of wheat in the spring of 2007. Proceeds from the crop sale would benefit the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, a coalition of Canadian church-based agencies that alleviates hunger in developing nations, and several local charities.

The project was also not only the biggest in the club’s history but also something of a gamble. First, the club had to sell sponsorships at $250 (Canadian dollars) an acre. The club had to pay for seed, fertilizer and land rental. The sponsorships went well with individuals and community groups stepping forward. Lions, in particular, were supportive. Thirty-five percent of the clubs in District 37-O sponsored acres, accounting for 30 percent of the 190 acres. Adding in the sponsorship by individual Lions, Lions’ sponsorship neared 50 percent of the acreage.

The crop was planted five miles west of Strathmore on the north side of the Trans-Canada Highway. It was good soil and the club knew what it was doing. Many Lions were farmers themselves including Matt Gosling, project chairperson, and Sonny Warrack of Bruce Farms, a major business. But the weather was the wild card. The goal was to produce 100 bushels per acre, and some local farmers were skeptical. “The [non-Lions] farmers said, ‘Good luck getting that,’ ” recalls Gibbons. Part of the challenge was that the land was not irrigated. “The only water we got was what fell from the sky,” says Gibbons.

Nature cooperated. “We got the sun when we needed it and the rain when we wanted it and avoided hail damage for the most part,” says Gibbons. But bad weather cancelled the original harvest day. So the club went with the next Sunday, a day on which local farmers could afford to help out. That day began cold and gray, but, running out of time, the club took a chance and alerted the farmers that today was indeed the day.

Before long, 24 combines and many trucks and bailers converged on the land. About 10 of the combines belonged to Lions, and a half dozen Lions drove those with the others steered by other farmers and farmhands. Despite their grueling work schedule, it wasn’t hard to get farmers to lend a hand. “In the farming and ranching community, everybody knows everybody,” says Gibbons. “You grow up very cooperatively. It’s like you’re brothers in arms.

“When you get a call from someone asking for help, it’s tough to say no. They’re giving back to the community. And they know if they need help others will help them.”

The Lions laid out a feast of barbecue beef, pork and beans. The combines lined up in the field, and, right on cue, the sun broke through the murky clouds. Canadians here are accustomed to two or perhaps three combines rolling down a field. The spectacle of two dozen combines rumbling in formation stopped traffic on the busy Trans-Canada Highway. “To see 24 combines stretching across the field was like a row of tanks from World War II. When you turned around, you could see 100 cars parked along this major highway to watch,” says Gibbons.

The harvest was finished within a few hours. The final tally: 99.4 bushels per acre. The quality was good, too. The wheat was auctioned off at a favorable price. The Canadian Foodgrains Bank, including the federal government’s four to one match for donations to the food bank, netted $387,885 from the Lions’ project. The Cheadle Lions also donated $50,000 to two local food charities, a crisis shelter and the Strathmore Lions for its water park project.

This growing season the Cheadle Lions will plant barley. Last year’s success has carried over: the club had found sponsors for a third of the acres by early February even though the official kickoff was not until April. The club also has applied to the Guinness Book of World Records to attain the fastest harvest ever in terms of most bushels per acre per hour.