I have been a life-long admirer of the Mennonite Central Committee, better known as MCC, and the work it does to bring relief, hope and development to some of the poorest people in some of the poorest communities in the world.
It is one of the rare things that brings the fractured Mennonite communities of North America together in common cause, from the most conservative of the Old Order and Amish farming congregations to the most progressive city churches.
Here in the Waterloo Region, led by the late Ward Shantz, Mennonites organize annual auction sales to raise money for the MCC - the New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale the last Saturday of May where more than 200 hard-sewn quilts are the main attraction, in Listowel the last Friday of February the Mennonite Heifer Sale.
Ross Shantz has taken over from his father to head the New Hamburg event which last year attracted more than 15,000 people to spent more than $330,000 - every penny of it going to the MCC. The total raised by the two annual sales, which began 44 years ago, now tops $15 million.
This year’s New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale will feature the auction of a restored1952 WD McCormick tractor and cultivator donated by Leon Frey of Drayton.
New this year will be a solid-wood furniture auction Friday evening and an outdoor auction of sports equipment and many other items on Saturday.
There will be food stands and booths on the fairgrounds with groups donating everything - the food, the paper plates and serviettes, their labour. The same is true for those who donate plants and items for auction.
Fresh rhubarb is another new attraction this year, complementing the fresh strawberry pies made on site, the Mennonite fleish peroschki and verenki and pork on a bun and much more.
