$307K: What A Relief!
Mennonite Charity Event Takes In A Record Haul
Posted: October 9, 2012
HARRISONBURG — Upward of a thousand volunteers rolled up their sleeves and worked together to set a new record for funds raised during the 46th annual Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale over the weekend.
The sale was held Friday evening and all day Saturday at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds.
This year’s sale raised about $307,000 for the worldwide relief and service program of the Mennonite Central Committee. Last year’s total was $301,477.
“I can’t begin to express my thanks for the many [volunteers] who worked hard to create an event that people come to enjoy and to spend money for such a worthy cause,” said Dave Rush of Harrisonburg, the relief sale chairman. “The cooperative weather certainly helped bring people out and contributed to the … record amount of money raised.”
The money raised included $30,737 — up from last year’s $29,251 — from the annual “Penny Power” project, in which area congregations, schools, homes and businesses collect coins and currency in large water jugs for weeks and bring their containers to the sale for sorting and tabulating.
Harrisonburg Mennonite Church headed the list of 40 participating congregations with just over $5,885, followed by Ridgeway Mennonite with about $2,821 and Community Mennonite Church, with $2,029.
One 4-year-old child came up to Penny Power workers and gave 65 cents.
The total raised does not include some matching funds expected later.
Penny Power funds will be divided equally between Mennonite Central Committee and Virginia Mennonite Missions. The money MCC receives will go to the Middle East, providing relief kits, emergency food and medicine for grassroots communities seeking peaceful solutions to the ongoing violence in Syria and Lebanon.
VMM will use its portion of the funds to assist victims hit hard by a tornado this spring in West Liberty, Ky., with rebuilding efforts.
The sale’s auction of handmade quilts, wall hangings, knotted comforters and afghans, artwork and wooden handcrafted items accounted for $112,155 of the total funds raised. Twenty-one quilts went for $1,000 or more.
The highest-bid item was a solid walnut grandfather clock with Westminster chimes crafted by Stanley R. Cline that sold for $3,600.
Two quilts went for $2,900 each. One was a 106-inch-by-109-inch compass star, pieced in tan, sage and purple by women of Mount Pleasant Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg.
The other was a 40-inch-by-47-inch bow-tie design wall hanging quilt fashioned from feed sacks of the 1930s and ’40s. It was pieced by Carmen Wyse and quilted by Grace Mumaw, both of Harrisonburg.
Long lines formed for popular food items, including some 14,900 homemade glazed doughnuts, as well as 180 gallons of Brunswick stew made on the premises by members of Springdale and Mountain View Mennonite churches in Augusta County.
The food venue also offered 2,925 barbecued chicken halves, chili, Laotian dishes, homemade potato chips, caramel popcorn and some 4,000 quarts of apple butter and fresh cider.
Rush said he was heartened not only by the turnout of volunteers, but also by the bidders and other spectators who supported the sale.
“I was moved by the response from Dan Pantoja, a missionary from the Philippines who receives some support from MCC, who saw for the first time how a relief sale operates,” Rush said. “He was overwhelmed and most appreciative of the support of the relief sale and everyone involved.”
Forty-five Mennonite annual relief sales in North America raise $5 million for Mennonite Central Committee to fund relief and service projects.
The sale was held Friday evening and all day Saturday at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds.
This year’s sale raised about $307,000 for the worldwide relief and service program of the Mennonite Central Committee. Last year’s total was $301,477.
“I can’t begin to express my thanks for the many [volunteers] who worked hard to create an event that people come to enjoy and to spend money for such a worthy cause,” said Dave Rush of Harrisonburg, the relief sale chairman. “The cooperative weather certainly helped bring people out and contributed to the … record amount of money raised.”
The money raised included $30,737 — up from last year’s $29,251 — from the annual “Penny Power” project, in which area congregations, schools, homes and businesses collect coins and currency in large water jugs for weeks and bring their containers to the sale for sorting and tabulating.
Harrisonburg Mennonite Church headed the list of 40 participating congregations with just over $5,885, followed by Ridgeway Mennonite with about $2,821 and Community Mennonite Church, with $2,029.
One 4-year-old child came up to Penny Power workers and gave 65 cents.
The total raised does not include some matching funds expected later.
Penny Power funds will be divided equally between Mennonite Central Committee and Virginia Mennonite Missions. The money MCC receives will go to the Middle East, providing relief kits, emergency food and medicine for grassroots communities seeking peaceful solutions to the ongoing violence in Syria and Lebanon.
VMM will use its portion of the funds to assist victims hit hard by a tornado this spring in West Liberty, Ky., with rebuilding efforts.
The sale’s auction of handmade quilts, wall hangings, knotted comforters and afghans, artwork and wooden handcrafted items accounted for $112,155 of the total funds raised. Twenty-one quilts went for $1,000 or more.
The highest-bid item was a solid walnut grandfather clock with Westminster chimes crafted by Stanley R. Cline that sold for $3,600.
Two quilts went for $2,900 each. One was a 106-inch-by-109-inch compass star, pieced in tan, sage and purple by women of Mount Pleasant Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg.
The other was a 40-inch-by-47-inch bow-tie design wall hanging quilt fashioned from feed sacks of the 1930s and ’40s. It was pieced by Carmen Wyse and quilted by Grace Mumaw, both of Harrisonburg.
Long lines formed for popular food items, including some 14,900 homemade glazed doughnuts, as well as 180 gallons of Brunswick stew made on the premises by members of Springdale and Mountain View Mennonite churches in Augusta County.
The food venue also offered 2,925 barbecued chicken halves, chili, Laotian dishes, homemade potato chips, caramel popcorn and some 4,000 quarts of apple butter and fresh cider.
Rush said he was heartened not only by the turnout of volunteers, but also by the bidders and other spectators who supported the sale.
“I was moved by the response from Dan Pantoja, a missionary from the Philippines who receives some support from MCC, who saw for the first time how a relief sale operates,” Rush said. “He was overwhelmed and most appreciative of the support of the relief sale and everyone involved.”
Forty-five Mennonite annual relief sales in North America raise $5 million for Mennonite Central Committee to fund relief and service projects.