By JACK PALMER
palmer@crescent-news.com
Most residents of the six-county area may be unfamiliar with the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), a non-profit organization devoted to meeting human needs around the world in the name of Jesus Christ.
The MCC story, however, needs to be told.
"The Mennonite Central Committee has been helping people around the world for many years," said Elaine Short, a member of North Clinton Mennonite Church in Wauseon. "Anytime there is a famine or natural disaster, they are there to provide help."
MCC, the national/international relief agency of the Mennonite and Brethren in Christ Churches, has channeled supplies to help relieve human suffering in the world since 1920. MCC currently serves in 57 countries by feeding the hungry, healing the sick, rebuilding homes, helping till soil and plant crops and encouraging peaceful resolution to conflict.
"The MCC is allowed to go into countries where other relief organizations are not allowed," said Wauseon resident Ron Short. "They don't have a political agenda and are known for their good work. They can open doors quicker because of their reputation."
Short serves as chairman of the Black Swamp Benefit Bazaar, a family-friendly fund-raiser held annually on the third weekend in June at the Fulton County Fairgrounds in Wauseon. Proceeds are divided evenly between the Mennonite Central Committee and Sunshine Inc., of Maumee, (formerly Sunshine Children's Home), a Mennonite-affiliated non-profit agency serving people with disabilities and their families in northwest Ohio.
The fund-raiser is made possible through the generous support of more than 50 area churches, numerous civic groups, quilt guilds, individual donors and volunteers. This year's event raised between $130,000-$140,000, according to Short.
In addition to raising funds for two good causes, Short noted that the Black Swamp event brings people of all ages together in a festival-like atmosphere.
"There's great homemade food, mud volleyball for teens and even a children's auction for kids 13-and-under," said Short.
The highlight of the event is the main auction on Saturday, featuring premier quilts, wall hangings, wood items and select merchandise.
"We had over 70 quilts this year and all but three were stitched by hand," said Short.
Similar relief sales to raise funds for the Mennonite Central Committee are held all over the country. Two the largest are the Ohio Mennonite Relief Sale and Auction in Kidron (between Wooster and Massillon) and the Michiana Mennonite Relief Sale in Goshen, Ind.
The Ohio Mennonite event is slated for July 31-Aug. 1 and the Michiana event will be held Sept. 25-26.
"I go to Kidron every year," said Short. "The atmosphere is much like Black Swamp, only it's bigger with more people. It's a great place for a short family vacation."
For more information about the Black Swamp Benefit Bazaar, visit www.blackswampbenefit.org. For more information about the Ohio Mennonite Relief Sale and Auction and to preview auction items, visit www.ohiomccreliefsale.org.
To learn more about the Mennonite Central Committee and its activities, visit www.mcc.org.