L to R; Ilsa Ching, Alan MacPhee, Mary Nicholson

The Friend of Farmers Helping Farmers Award recognizes individuals and businesses who are not members of FHF, but who have made a lasting and extensive contribution to our work. This year the Award is presented to the Souris Village Feast Organizing Committee .

The Souris Village Feast Committee spear heads the organization of the Souris community to volunteer to serve over 1000 people a top notch fund raising meal in early July. 

For the past four years, the Village Feast raised money for Farmers Helping Farmers, the Souris Food Bank, Coats for Kids and Main Street Resource Centre.

Farmers Helping Farmers has used the $10,000 it has received each year from the Village Feast to construct a cookhouse at a school.

As a result of this fund raising , FHF has received $40, 000 which means that almost 1,000 school children receive a school lunch prepared in the cookhouses. The schools report that school attendance has improved, and the children’s academic performance has improved. This means that they are more likely to get places in schools where they can continue their education.

Chef Michael Smith’s company has just released a one hour program on the Food Network entitled the "Village Feast". The video outlines the work required for Village Feast. Farmers Helping Farmers get very positive coverage during the program.

To recognize the commitment of the Village Feast Organizing Committee, I invite Alan MacPhee and Ilse Ching to come forward to accept the 2012 Friend of Farmers Helping Farmers Award.

Honorary Life Membership

L to R: Bert, Eddie, and Anne Dykerman

 This award  recognizes members who have made an outstanding and substantial contribution to the organization and its purpose. This year we are pleased to present this award to the Dykerman Family, of Brookfield.

The Dykerman Family has been a strong supporter of Farmers Helping Farmers for more than twenty-five years.  The family members have served on the Board of Directors, actively contributed to fundraising activities and have participated in travel to Kenya.   The family has generously donated fresh, high quality produce from their Brookfield Gardens farm for the Farmers Helping Farmers barbeque since its early days almost 30 years ago.  In addition, they have offered their time for food preparation the day of the barbeque. 

In 1989 Bert and Anne joined ten other Islanders to spend five weeks working and living on Kenyan farms and evaluating projects funded through Farmers Helping Farmers.  Once they returned home, they spoke at various community meetings about the Association projects and the farm families that they met in Kenya.  They inspired others to be involved with the organization and to become engaged as global citizens.

Eddie has served on the Farmers Helping Farmers Board of Directors for the past two years and has actively contributed to the development of the association’s projects.  With his contacts and background in vegetable production, Eddie has encouraged others to contribute their skills to the objectives of Farmers Helping Farmers projects in Kenya.

The Dykerman family members have inspired others with their generosity and commitment to Farmers Helping Farmers and the rural families of Kenya. They have made continuing contributions to Farmers Helping Farmers for more than twenty-five years by providing leadership, community awareness and financial support.