MWR : Canadian MCC thrift stores set a record for sales at nearly (Cdn.) $6 million

Last updated November 24.

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Jan. 18, 2010 issue

Canadian MCC thrift stores set a record for sales at nearly (Cdn.) $6 million

By Gladys Terichow Mennonite Central Committee Canada

NIVERVILLE, Man. — Mennonite Central Committee thrift shops in Canada contributed a record $5.9 million (Canadian) to the work of MCC this past year.

Sabrina Minich of Niverville, Man., whose family emigrated from Germany last summer, earns community service credit at Niverville Collegiate by volunteering at the Mennonite Central Committee thrift shop in Niverville. — Photo by Gladys Terichow/MCC

Judy Dyck, coordinator of the 56 MCC thrift shops in Canada, said steady growth indicates that an increasing number of customers and donors support the mission of MCC thrift shops.

And they see thrift shops as a sensible and environmentally friendly option for “affordable rare finds” and “secondary uses for their own surplus goods.”

Buying “thrift” is a new experience for Sabrina Minich, a student at Niverville Collegiate.

Minich, the eldest of seven children, and her parents emigrated from Germany to Canada in August and settled near the town of Niverville, south of Winnipeg.

When the school gave her the opportunity to earn a community service credit through volunteering for a cause or organization, Minich selected the MCC thrift shop in Niverville.

“I heard this is a secondhand shop that makes a lot of money for people in other countries,” she said. “We don’t have something like this in Germany.”

In the United States, thrift stores contributed $4.54 million (U.S.) to MCC in the 2008-09 fiscal year.

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