Relief sales offer food, friends, raise money

Photo by David Troyer

A group of friends sit down to enjoy apple cider at the MCC Relief Sale. The sale raised $42,000 for MCC missions around the world.

Mennonites love their social activities and also like to support Anabaptist causes, which may explain why there are 32 Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) relief sales every year in the United States and another 14 in Canada.

According to Jean Hess, Resource Development Coordinator for MCC East Coast, the three largest sales are those for the states of Kansas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Although the Virginia sale is not among the largest MCC sales, it has grown considerably in its 39-year history. In 1999 it moved to the Rockingham County Fairgrounds from Augusta Expoland because it had outgrown the space. The sale features an auction that begins on Friday and continues on Saturday. On both days there are food booths sponsored by congregations in the state.

Senior Carlita Schweitzer has dipped ice cream for many years for Lindale Mennonite Church. She said that the food is what really makes the sale stand out for the college age group. The Virginia sale is known for its doughnuts, which were in short supply this year.

A number of EMU students have attended relief sales in their home states. Senior Ben Alison from Hesston, Kan., compared Virginia's relief sale to the one in Kansas, saying, "In Kansas, everything is bigger."

EMU first-year Hannah Yoder from Hubbard, Ore., has tried to make it to the sale in her home state every year. "I like going because of all the people that are there," she said. She attended Western Mennonite High School in Salem, Ore., and said she could always count on seeing plenty of her classmates at the sale. "It's always been a big deal," she said.

What all MCC relief sales have in common is that 100 percent of their proceeds are donated to MCC. According to a press release for the Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale by Jim Bishop, Public Information Officer for EMU, this year's sale raised $242 thousand. This figure is not yet complete as "Penny Power" numbers have not been added. "Penny Power" is an event in which churches are asked to collect large amounts of change and then bring containers with the money to a relief sale for donation.

MCC uses the money to fund personnel in countries around the world. Its mission includes relief, recovery and peacemaking. More than $8 thousand will go to support relief efforts in Mississippi this year.