CHARITIES

We have carefully chosen four charities which will be avenues for our proceeds.  The criteria we used were proven track records, suitable grass root projects from which we could choose, and also low expenses.  Our priorities are to support immediate food relief, clean water or development schemes which would enable people to become more independent, and in some cases micro-credit.   The following fit our criteria and have been very helpful, but we are not restricted to these exclusively.  If the Board of Directors feels that we should support another charity from time to time, we will do that.
We intend to be very accountable and our financial statements will be available on our web site.

MAIN CHARITIES

1.  PRIMATE’S WORLD RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT FUND.

Affiliated to Action By Churches Together (ACT) International, a global alliance of main line Protestant and Orthodox churches who respond to world-wide emergences and provide relief to the affected communities.  The ACT network works together to minimize overheads and co-ordinate their resources.  PWRDF will take no deduction from our contributions.
           www.pwrdf.org

2.  STEPHEN LEWIS FOUNDATION.  Food provision

             Although a young charity they have great creditability, and Stephen Lewis is
             well known, particularly in the Maritimes.  This is a charity concerned with
             HIV/AIDS but they also deal with overwhelming hunger as a result.
                        www.stephenlewisfoundation.org

3.  CANADIAN FOODGRAINS BANK 

On behalf of its fifteen member agencies, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank collects grain and cash donations and provides funds and expert advice for projects submitted by member agencies and their partners.  Those who work in creating and implementing the projects are located on the ground in the developing countries.  The Canadian Foodgrains Bank also manages the procurement and supply of food commodities, and engages in public policy and education activities related to hunger and food security.

Since inception in 1983, they have provided over 1,000,000 tonnes of food assistance to people who are hungry in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Eastern Europe.

Their expense deductions are about 10%, but donations are matched 4:1 by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

http://www.foodgrainsbank.ca/

4.  CHF

Founded in 1961 by the Honourable Mitchell Sharp as the Canadian Hunger Foundation, CHF is a registered Canadian non-governmental organization (NGO) headquartered in Ottawa. It is a pragmatic, non-sectarian, results-oriented organization.
Since its inception, CHF has implemented over 800 projects in more than 40 countries, helping thousands in Asia, Africa and the Americas to improve their daily lives and break the cycle of poverty.
CHF is recognized as a leader in international development. Over the last 46 years, CHF has helped change lives and create solutions to combat the effects of drought, disease and devastating poverty in rural communities throughout the world.
Using a Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) — what we call Three-Dimensional Development — CHF has helped bring self-reliance to people in the developing world. www.chf-partners.ca
 This charity seems to fit our mandate ideally and we can select the projects
 which we would like to support.  http://www.chf-partners.ca/projects/ourprojects.shtml
Their overheads are less than 9%.