08/30/2026
“In 1946 members of our church gathered up enough wheat, had it ground into flour and sent to Europe post-war. I forget how many train loads they sent, but this bag on the left shows the specific label for that. My great-grandfather was instrumental in putting that together. I had another logo done and printed on shopping bags for our Mennonite Country Auction.
One day my grandfather’s sister called me and asked if she could get a new bag. Here is her story… She was sitting in the Denver airport and a man came up to her with tears in his eyes. Pointing to her shopping bag, he said: ‘that saved my life, I remember as a child, that bag coming with food in it, and it saved my life.’ He spotted that bag in the Denver airport, and she gave him her Mennonite shopping bag. I was choked up hearing her story, and I knew at that time, that was agriculture at times of need. To me that is what we do. Our Mennonite Country Auction has been earning money just for those kinds of needs. One I remember was in January after Katrina and Mennonite Disaster Service was in response. There was a group of us went down to work disaster relief. My grandmother was 84 at the time and she asked if she could go, so we went together. She was concerned about what she could do to help at her age; I assured her that it would be okay. She was in her element, in the kitchen feeding people. She told me that she had wanted to do something like this all her life. Service to others is big with the Mennonite Church. Service to others is big to me. All the money we raise goes out to the Mennonite Central Committee to provide service to others.
The very first thing sold at our auction is a loaf of bread. The bread is sold and then given back and used for communion the next day. That loaf of bread typically goes for a thousand dollars or more. One of the auctioneers came up with an idea to sell ‘absolutely nothin’. People want to give, they want to ring the bell, and they get excited. We will sell absolutely nothin’, he said. So we sell thousands of dollars of absolutely nothing and when you go home and your spouse asks “What did you buy at the sale”? You can say… “Absolutely nothing, dear”. It’s a fun way to donate to the Mennonite Country Auction. Our auction was a destination, the only one still on church grounds, the smallest one and the one that earns the most money per capita. People came for the atmosphere, fresh cider, German food and of course the auction.
This year we are going totally online, our first virtual sale. It has already started and goes until October 3rd. On our page I have been posting items as well as stories of people who have been involved in the MCC and gone on missions. It is important for people to know what MCC does.
Everyone is struggling right now, but you can always find stories about givers. We can always do something.”
Behind the scenes with agri.CULTURE ...com/agriculturepeople
