After seven plus years of being the Regional Rep for Manitoba and northwestern Ontario for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Gordon Janzen is looking at retirement in spring of the new year.
"I started in November of 2017, so I've been working in this role for just over 7 years," shares Janzen. "It's been a very good seven years of connecting with supporters of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, the individuals and the groups, the growing projects and community groups, the lovely and generous communities across Manitoba and northwest Ontario to connect with."
Before becoming the regional rep for his region, Janzen says he wasn't fully aware of the efforts and commitment that individuals and supporters of the Foodgrains Bank and their member agencies that there were in his region. "The community groups, whether they're growing projects growing grain, or community groups that are raising support in other ways, like singing in the grain concerts or otherwise, it's really amazing the dedication of people."
Retirement begins in March of 2025 for Gordon Janzen, and he already knows some of the things he'll be paying attention to. Janzen is a beekeeper and so his beehives that are located in their family's back yard in Winnipeg will be among the activities he'll be enjoying when there isn't a fixed schedule in place.
"I have a list of things that I'll be looking at that I haven't been able to engage for a while and so I'm looking to exploring the next chapter," he adds.
Highlights over the past year are much the same as over the past 7 years for Janzen, that being the fundraising events and community grow projects when the fields are ready for harvest.
"Those events are always wonderful community events that bring people together," he explains, "and they're always good days because they have to be good weather days to harvest. It's a time to celebrate the work that a community does together over a whole growing season, pulling in the harvest and then committing that to the Foodgrains Bank. It's just really humbling to see the way that groups come together with the same mission to remember people who experience hunger in the world, in ways that most of us in Canada don't see, and we often don't know about."
This year there were 40 community projects in all in his Manitoba-NW Ontario Region.
A significant event that impacted Janzen in early 2024 was the Learning Tour with the Foodgrains Bank to Nepal in mid-February, to meet members of the partner organizations and to tour the communities that were benefiting from this partnership with those national groups.
Early in the new year, Janzen will be in attendance with the CFB at Ag Ex (January) and the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair (March), both taking place at the Keystone Centre, Brandon.
Please visit the Canadian Foodgrains Bank website for more on their projects taking place around the world, and for upcoming opportunities for CFB Learning Tours.