With one week left to go before a matching grant’s June 30 deadline, Alongside Hope is closing in on its fundraising goal. The Canadian Anglican relief and development agency seeks to raise $30,000 more to meet its hope of raising $250,000 for its new Resilience Fund.
In April, Alongside Hope launched its new Resilience Fund in response to the devastating cuts to international aid by the U.S. and other governments. The fund was created to provide support for many of its partners and programs that have lost funding from other sources. Soon after the launch, a donor offered to anonymously match all donations made to the Resilience Fund by June 30, 2025, up to $250,000.
“I couldn’t believe the timing of the call,” said Carolyn Cummins, director of fundraising and supporter relations for Alongside Hope (formerly the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund). She was about to introduce the fund at the House of Bishops at their meeting in Niagara, Ont. “It was very exciting to be able to tell them about our donor’s incredible generosity.”
While a quarter of a million dollars is a larger gift than most supporters can make, the anonymous donor was quick to point out that every gift is important, regardless of size. “If we all give what we can, Jesus multiples it like the loaves and fishes.”
A program is underway with Village Health Works (VHW) in Burundi, a longtime partner of Alongside Hope. The USAID cuts resulted in a nearly $1 million shortfall in medication for HIV, tuberculous and malaria, including a $677,000 gap in treatments to prevent malnutrition in children. (VHW) is responding with an adaptive, locally driven solution to prevent a catastrophe, by launching DuhindukeNut, a locally run Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) production in Kigutu, Burundi. The supplement is a dense peanut butter-like product, made from peanuts, soy and dairy, and enriched with critical nutrients.
“Our goal is to build a community-owned, scalable production model that not only meets VHW’s internal demand but also creates jobs, supports local farmers, and lays the groundwork for national provision of RUTF,” VHW says in their submission to Alongside Hope.
“The name DuhindukeNut comes from the Kirundi word ‘Duhinduke,’ meaning ‘Let’s transform.’ It reflects our belief that solving malnutrition in Burundi requires a shift – from dependence on imported aid to locally owned, sustainable solutions. ‘Nut’ refers to the nutritional products at the heart of this initiative. The name captures both our purpose and our approach: transforming lives through food, community leadership and innovation.”
Click here to give online or by phone at 1-866-308-7973. Or you can mail a cheque to Alongside Hope, 80 Hayden Street, 3rd Floor, Toronto, ON, Canada, M4Y 3G2. Please indicate “Resilience Fund” in the memo.
Church of the Ascension, Ottawa — Deanery of Central Ottawa