Eastern Iowa Farmer Fall 2018

WHY FARMERS MATTER
Paul Erbes
Vice President for Development,
Wartburg Seminary
getting a phone call from
the grain elevator telling
me I had 5,000 bushels
of wheat there for the
church.”
He said it made him
laugh.
“I didn’t realize growing
up on a farm was a
key part of my education
to be a pastor,” he said.
Today, Wartburg Seminary
receives donations
of grain from a core
group of farmers. That
money is used to support
the training of new pastors
and for other student
educational opportunities.
“That gift of grain has
a huge impact on future
pastors for the church,”
Erbes said.
“The neat part is the
Bible is filled with illustrations
of giving first
fruit,” he said. “There’s
this whole concept of if I
have a field, a garden, or
whatever in abundance,
I offer thanks to God by
sharing it with others.
The other piece is that
there’s a real beauty in
allowing the community
of congregation to participate
in the joy and the
risk of farming.” n
Farmers can share
gifts in many ways
The Community
Foundation of Greater
Dubuque, with affiliate
foundations in Jackson,
Jones and Clinton counties,
operates a Gift of
Grain program as an
option for donations. The
foundation started tracking
gifts of grain separately
in November 2013,
and since then it has
received 90 gifts totaling
$366,909, said Amy
Manternach, the foundation’s
vice president for
finance and philanthropy.
“Farmers have a
philanthropic spirit,” she
said. “And as awareness
of the program grows,
the number of gifts grow.
It’s one way they can
leave a legacy.”
Under the Community
Foundation of Greater
Dubuque’s program, after
contacting the foundation
about the gift, farmers
deliver their grain to the
elevator as a gift to the
CONFIDENCE
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eifarmer.com FALL 2018 | EASTERN IOWA FARMER 89