2021 Letter to Congregational Representatives

Welcome to the start of the 55th Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale. I am very happy you are willing to volunteer to make this important event such a success. Thank you for being a representative for your congregation. Each year, we rely on you to relay information about the sale to your congregations. Please take an active role in doing this. This year’s sale will be held October 1 & 2, 2021.

Last year was a year like no other for all of us. Although it was a challenging year and we had to do things differently, the Relief Sale was a success. We were able to donate a record-breaking amount of $336,621.23. WOW! We were able to do this because of the generous donations that were given. Thank you for making that happen and continue to encourage people to give generously this year as well.

This year, we are planning a “regular” Relief Sale. We hope to be back to “normal” by October. We realize that we may need to adapt if needed. We encourage everyone to continue to volunteer, but also realize that some people may not feel comfortable volunteering…yet. If you do not feel comfortable volunteering, we understand and hope you will again in the future. Please let us know ASAP about this decision. We are planning for the auction to be live, but with the option to watch it online as well as bid online. Please encourage donors to submit their auction donation form with pictures sooner than later.

Help raise money for the Refugee work MCC is doing. Sharing Our Surplus (SOS) is holding a Walk for Refugees on August 29th at 6pm at Community Mennonite Church. Encourage your congregations to collect sponsors and come walk around downtown Harrisonburg.

Your churches can also collect coins for My Coins Count. Project descriptions can be found at https://vmmissions.org/how-to-help/giving-projects/my-coins-count/.

Apple Butter Boiling will be September 25th in Stuarts Draft. All are welcome to help.

We encourage Congregation Reps and anyone else interested in attending to our future meetings. We will meet at Harrisonburg Mennonite Church at 7pm on:

• Monday, August 9
• Tuesday, September 14
• Tuesday, November 9

Please contact us with any questions:
Auction – Jason Ropp – ropp.jason@gmail.com / 319-331-7695
Food – Sandra Rush – criternest@gmail.com / 540-478-7602
SOS Walk – Mark Keller – mkeller123@gmail.com / 540-820-4387
General – Dave Rush – info@vareliefsale.com / 540-433-9993