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In the middle of the night, flood waters from a nearby creek swept away almost everything in La Florida, a community in the Montes de María region of Colombia. Three hours later, Judith Stella Robles Rivero was taking action, securing aid and advocating for governmental assistance to help her community recover. Robles Rivero was able to secure food and clothes for her community after the May 1, 2022, flood because of the leadership skills and confidence that she developed in workshops with SembrandoPaz. This Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) partner organization works in nine rural communities in the Montes de Maria region. Empowering women is part of the work of SembrandoPaz – which translates to “sowing peace.” The organization is active in nine rural areas of the Montes de Maria region, which has been deeply impacted by decades of armed conflict, beginning in the 1980s. MCC supports SembrandoPaz via Growing Hope Globally, a Christian nonprofit that works to combat hunger by building networks between farmers in North America and farmers in developing countries. MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ! https://mcccanada.ca/stories/empowering-women-colombia 
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Mennonite Central Committee’s (MCC) newest resource kit will support vulnerable women and girls with dignity. The new dignity kit contains hygiene and sanitary items tailored for women and girls who don’t have ready access to the items they need. The first shipments of MCC dignity kits have already been sent to partners in South Sudan and Ukraine. Two shipments have been delivered to Loreto Rumbek School, an all-girls school in Rumbek, South Sudan. Nearly 1,600 kits have given students like Martha Akol safe and reusable hygiene options Akol dreams about becoming an obstetrician. She wants to teach other women about feminine hygiene and safely deliver children into new lives. She says her dignity kit has further inspired her to work toward that goal and allows her to study with peace. For the cost of around $31, an MCC dignity kit contains a variety of necessary items packed in a two-gallon pail with a lid. https://mcccanada.ca/stories/mcc-launches-new-menstrual-hygiene-dignity-kit MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ!  Many women and girls are still banned from education in Afghanistan. This Easter, you can help our partners on the ground provide things like literacy classes that will teach women how to read and write. You can give by your offering. If by cash, designate the envelope “MCC Afghanistan.” If by cheque, make the cheque payable to the church and designate “MCC Afghanistan” on the memo line/envelope. By e-transfer, put “MCC Afghanistan” in the message box. MCC – Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ https://mcccanada.ca/  Mennonite Disaster Service recruits, organizes and empowers volunteers to repair and rebuild the homes of those impacted by disasters in the United States and Canada. As we respond with Christian love to serve people who would not otherwise have the means to recover, our goal is to restore hope and bring people home. Hurricane Fiona struck Nova Scotia, and other parts of Atlantic Canada, on September 24, 2022. Winds of 140 kilometres per hour battered parts of the province, blowing down trees and damaging roofs and siding on houses. MDS volunteers will begin their response in Glace Bay and other parts of Nova Scotia in late March. Volunteers will be doing various stages of repair on different houses. There will be some gutting, roofing, framing, insulation, and basement work. We may be too old to gut and rebuild houses, but we can give money to assist with this work. You can give by cheque at church – put “MDS” on the cheque. Or you can give on-line. https://mds.org/ MDS – Restoring hope and bringing people home.  Have you been meaning to clear out household items that you no longer use, but haven't gotten around to it yet? Well, now's the time to do it! Our thrift shops welcome household donations to keep supplies strong on the sales floor. Pack up some boxes and head over to your local thrift shop today! Tim Albrecht – the General Manager of (what we used to call) the Christian Benefit Shop – especially welcomes kitchen supplies and home décor. Laur Steven is the receiver volunteer on Thursday mornings. He wouldn’t want to be without a job to do. 😊 MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ! https://mccthriftontario.com/  In addition to more than 490 projects worldwide, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is actively engaged in making a difference in Ontario. We walk towards reconciliation with Indigenous Neighbours and alongside newcomers building a new life in Canada. We support those impacted by crime or facing the realities of poverty and homelessness. We work to build stronger and safer communities. Our People in Poverty program walks alongside people in our community facing the realities of poverty and homelessness through our Circle of Friends and TOOLS (Toronto Ontario Opportunities for Learning and Service) initiatives. MCC Ontario also champions the Living Wage movement and supports the Raw Carrot social enterprise in Kitchener. mcco.ca/poverty-reduction MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ!  A 7.8 magnitude earthquake and a 7.5 magnitude earthquake have hit Syria and Türkiye causing widespread damage and loss of life. MCC is accepting donations for a response. MCC is working with partners in Aleppo, Syria to provide emergency assistance such as food baskets, clothing, hygiene supplies, winterization supplies and water resources. MCC will also be providing partners with psychological and trauma training. Please keep the people of Syria and Türkiye in your prayers. MCC has joined the Humanitarian Coalition appeal for Türkiye & Syria. MCC is a member of the Humanitarian Coalition through Canadian Foodgrains Bank. https://donate.mcccanada.ca/cause/syria-and-t%C3%BCrkiye-earthquake MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ!  The following is from an article written by Maria Klassen for Canadian Mennonite. Thrift stores sell a remarkably wide range of items, and now the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) thrift store in St. Catharines sells one more. In November 2022, the MCC Christian Benefit Shop started selling a range of frozen soups produced by Raw Carrot, an innovative social enterprise. Raw Carrot has provided employment for 32 people with disabilities and mental illness. Currently, Raw Carrot soup choices include: Signature Carrot, Flying Noodle (chunky chicken noodle), Veggie Mania, Loaded Potato and Bacon, Hearty Lentil and Barley, Mulligatawny, and Spicy-ish Sausage and Cabbage. These soups are mindful of dietary considerations such as gluten free, vegetarian/vegan and keto-friendly. https://canadianmennonite.org/stories/soup-change-world MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ  I confess, I thought of a sunny holiday – walking along a sandy beach… I did not know that MCC sends material resources to Cuba – and sometimes they are distributed with a horse and wagon! In 2022, the BIC Church of Cuba distributed MCC humanitarian aid to thousands of people across 10 provinces in Cuba through local relief committees. The church leaders volunteered weeks of their time to distribute aid to the most vulnerable as the country continues to experience intense shortages of both food and hygiene items. To learn more about MCC's material resources program, visit mcccanada.ca/kits. #mccpeace BIC Church photo/BIC Church photo/Samuel Diaz MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ!  Did you know that MCC works in every continent in the world except Antarctica and Australia? MCC works in 45 countries around the world. We partner with local churches and organizations with similar values to amplify our impact. We hope you will be part of our work of relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ. For more info visit mcccanada.ca MCC - Relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ!  |
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