Did Someone Say HARVEST??

I got this picture from Zambia yesterday.

Not a long post today, but when I got this picture I couldn’t help myself but share it with anyone interested.

It seems that anyone who got their maize planted in December and then got some timely rains during what was otherwise a very hot and dry December so they didn’t have to replant, may well be ready to harvest – like these ladies in the Mambwe region in Eastern Zambia.

The expectation is that those who replanted in January, as did the entire Petauke project, will likely be a month or so behind.

Why is this important?

1. It is extremely important to our brothers and sisters in Zambia who endured a disastrous growing season a year ago where their maize crop was basically wiped out. To see their fields ripe with corn again has to be such a wonderful feeling!
2. As I have described before, Shoulder 2 Shoulder began three years ago to PURCHASE as much of the harvest as possible DIRECTLY from farm families in the communities where we are active. We buy the maize at a slight premium to the level set by the government, blessing our Zambian brothers and sisters in that way, and then we move it to the local churches that are a part of our distribution network so it can be handed out monthly over the following 12 months as needed. Not only does this bless the farm families at the time of purchase, but it saves S2S money over buying directly from the dealers who have processed the grain. Then we simply provide, with the monthly allotment of shelled maize, funds to cover the grinding process – still leaving us with savings over allowing the mills to purchase the maize, grind it, and mark it up for sale.

The last three years we have gone from 700 families served to over 1,100 families served to around 1,500 families served and, finally, to more than 2,200 families served, which is what we expect to happen once again in April, all because of the growth in our Harvest Fundraiser each year.

Last year we raised around $140,000 for the harvest effort. To date we have raised around $95,000 for this year’s harvest. We know there are more funds on the way from a couple different directions, but we have a ways to go before we surpass last year and set ourselves up for growth again.

If you have any questions about this process or our hopes for growth through the harvest acquisition, please feel free to reach out.