By Marian Pontz
We stood together in Mennonite Central Committee’s warehouse, volunteers and workers, guided by Pastor Dave Miller, who led us in prayer — prayers directed to give a safe passage of a shipping container filled with an array of items from hand-sewn comforters to school and relief kits.
Travel across the ocean to a mission in Malawi, Africa will take many months, likely arriving just before Christmas. The aid is meant to bring help to people who are still recovering from the longest cyclone on record (five weeks). We gathered to bless the packed container because, as Donor Relations Director Les Horning explained, “We are about heart and not just transactional materials. We send this container with love and care.”
Mennonite Central Committee has been dedicated to helping its neighbors locally and around the world for more than a century. This help comes in three forms: relief for emergencies, including clothing, food boxes that include cans of meat from the only USDA-approved mobile meat canning operation, personal hygiene materials, and more; development in the form of microfinance loans from Village Savings and Loans, as well as working with farmers to develop best conservation practices; and, finally, peace—which is seen in their school curriculum designed to break cycles of violence and develop conflict resolution skills and expectations.
MCC’s efforts can be seen in 45 countries, working with 381 partners on 496 different projects.
(An important side note on the value of partnerships: Decades ago, International Development looked like colonial powers telling the people that they served what they thought they needed. This paternalistic method failed on so many levels. Thus, MCC’s focus is on hundreds of partnerships. These partnerships are meant to ensure that they are working with groups and people on the ground, who are assessing needs and speaking with people directly to discover what they need, rather than simply deciding for them.)
MCC continues to transform its programs to best fit the needs of the people they serve. Their newest project is a dignity kit, which allows women and girls to continue going to school during menstruation. The lack of period products will no longer stop a girl’s education. The kit includes well-made underwear, as well as washable pad inserts, and a transport bag.
Horning says that MCC is excited to be part of the Gifts that Give Hope Fair because he wants to spread the word about the incredible efforts of the organization. “MCC is Lancaster’s best-kept secret,” Horning shared.
But it’s time for that secret to get out and for others to find ways to be a part of the organization. There is no religious or age restriction for volunteering at MCC. They have had groups of school-aged children come to the headquarters and put together school kits. Many volunteers come in together—husbands and wives, best friends—for a day and work together for a few hours. On the Wednesday afternoon that I visited, men and women of all ages could be seen sewing together in the sewing room, making tote bags for the kits, sorting books to recycle materials (because it is also MCC’s goal to pursue conservation efforts), organizing containers of shoes, weaving thread into carpets, sorting materials for future comforters… the jobs were plentiful and the need for more volunteers very real. This important work can only be done with the help of volunteers.
At the close of the Pastor’s moving prayer and dedication of a packed shipping container headed thousands of miles away, MCC’s workers and volunteers moved towards the cafeteria to celebrate with a little cake and the knowledge that a few families this winter will be warmer sleeping under comforters sewed with skill and heart, eating food where famine is present, and knowing that people many miles away are dedicating their lives to forging connections that better their shared world.
Please visit the Mennonite Central Committee at the GTGH Alternative Gift Fair on Sunday, December 10, 2023. If you are interested in volunteering for MCC, please email LesHorning@mcc.org. Visit MCC’s website www.mcc.org for more information.
