MCC SALE RAISES 90K; HEARTS FULL

Financial contributions include $30,000 anonymous gift, nearly $20,000 in blessing bids and almost $12,000 for the ‘pie guys’

By way of greeting, Edie Tschetter stood before several hundred guests assembled at tables inside the spacious dining room on the lowest level of Pioneer Hall on Saturday.

It was just after lunch, the afternoon of July 20, and just before the start of the live auction — one of the hallmarks of the South Dakota Mennonite Central Committee Relief Sale — and she had good news.

In one of the days leading up to the sale, Tschetter reported, she had received a check in the amount of $30,000 to be used as part of the proceeds of this year’s sale — an act of generosity that sent her heart “a flutter.”

Imagine how she felt, then, when she learned later that night that preliminary reports showed that this year’s fundraiser for worldwide relief through MCC had generated, not between $30,000 and $40,000 which is typical, and not $50,000 like last year’s event produced, but upwards of $90,000.

The proceeds came from private gifts, food sales, the My Coins Count project that asks children to contribute spare change, and the silent and live auctions, all of which marked Saturday’s sale.

“From that small a group?” she told The Courier on Monday, struggling to find the adjectives to describe how she felt about that level of financial support. “I just got goosebumps everywhere; I just couldn’t believe it.”

Even without the $30,000 gift that came in the day before, this year’s sale raised as much as it has since it debuted in the Freeman community in 2014. Prior to that, from 1987 to 2012, the sale was held in Sioux Falls as a joint effort with the Mennonite community from the Mt. Lake, Minn., area and known as the Minn-Kota Relief Sale.

The fact that the South Dakota sale returned after a two-year break and appears to be thriving now, more than ever, is testament to people’s passion for the local effort, said Barb Yoder, who is treasurer for the local relief sale.

“For me the best part of the whole day was the pie guys,” she said, referencing the friendly competition between local men of the community’s Mennonite churches that has become a popular part of the live auction. On Saturday, the pie guys generated $11,200 in proceeds, with Dan Graber defending his title against Ben Carlson and Kenney Birkey.

“People are just so generous,” Yoder said. “People dig deep, deep, deep into their pockets for this.”

Many of the funds raised on Saturday came from the live auction, which was graciously called by Ryan Wieman — a “next generation” auctioneer with Wieman Land and Auction. Tschetter noted in her remarks that his involvement with the family business mirrors the generational impact the local community has had on the MCC sale.

As for the items on the block, many revolved around food, from Berrybrook Ice Cream to caramel rolls to world famous Kampot pepper that comes from Cambodia. There were also hand-made items and quilts, which are as traditional to the sale as anything.

But the live auction has changed over time, said Tschetter. Gone are the days of rows of quilts and other items that once spanned the floor of the Sioux Falls Arena, where the sale was held for most of its 25-year run in Sioux Falls. Instead, the number of items to buy have been reduced, largely because people aren’t necessarily interested in acquiring more things.

Instead, much of the attention in more recent years has been focused on what are known as “blessing bids” — earmarked projects in impoverished countries in which bidders commit a set dollar amount by a simple show of hands.

Last Saturday’s sale included three blessing bids: A $200 blessing to provide relief aid and trauma counseling through MCC’s relief to the crisis in Gaza; a $150 blessing to provide school supplies, books, tutoring and other resources to girls in Bangladesh; and a $76 blessing for a set of gardening tools and seeds for farming in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

All told, the blessing bids brought in nearly $20,000.

Among those witnessing that giving spirit was Brocia Mueller, a niece to Yoder who works in one of four MCC regional hubs across the country — the Central States office in North Newton, Kan. Mueller attended Saturday’s sale along with co-worker Kayt Keough, who is the community engagement coordinator in the Kansas office.

“I was absolutely blown away,” Mueller told the Courier on Tuesday. “Physically, I had to pull myself back because it was just so amazing. It’s such a small community but you show up again and again. I have goosebumps right now just thinking about it. It’s incredible.”

Mueller noted that the sale in Freeman draws from a much smaller geographical area than other sales across the country that generate far more, but that’s what makes the response so profound.

“This has a future here, and it’s not all about the numbers,” said Mueller, who is the workroom supervisor and volunteer coordinator for the office in North Newton. “Even the years where the totals maybe aren’t what they were there this year, what you are doing matters.”

She said the pie guys competition is an example of curating a relief sale that fits the community.

“You guys have found what works for you,” she said. “That might change in 15, 20 years, but you are finding what works for Freeman, and that’s the beauty of it.”

She was also surprised to learn the deep roots the community has planted with MCC — and MCC with the community. This was evident in a list displayed at the Central States table where Mueller and Keough sat showing the local men and women who have served the organization as volunteers.

“Oh my goodness,” Mueller said. “The list went on and on.”

That connectiveness no doubt plays a part in the ongoing commitment to MCC from those living in the community, including Paul Ortman, whose parents, Orville and Janelle, served in Nigeria. Ortman has been a key cog in the wheel since the relief sale first came to Freeman in 2014 and oversees the technology — a key logistical component.

“A remarkable sale total,” he wrote the local committee in his summary late Saturday night. “I’m not sure exactly why this sale was so awesome, but among the reasons I think are: 1. Awesome volunteers (you); 2. We’re continuing to build a culture of generous and faithful giving; 3. The atmosphere at the sale has youth, life, fullness and joy; 4. Many individuals prioritize MCC with their financial gifts.”

Ortman noted Tschetter and her “steadfast leadership” and asked the committee members to thank “the many volunteers from your regions of influence and please spread the joy and gratitude that I feel.”