Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Ontario announced the appointment of Michelle Brenneman as its next executive director. Brenneman, who now serves as the organization’s director of human resources, will start in her new role on June 1. She takes over from John Head who is retiring.
Brenneman started her work with MCC Ontario in the restorative justice program 16 years ago.
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Ontario has cancelled its meat canning events in Leamington and Elmira for the third year in a row. The April events were nixed due to staffing shortages and an inability to get the meat canner across the border from the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are very disappointed,” said Sheryl Bruggeling, a spokesperson for MCC Ontario.
Peace activists, Sahar Vardi, right, a Jewish Israeli, and Tarek Al-Zoughbi, a Christian Palestinian, are pictured during their cross-Canada speaking tour in 2018 sponsored by MCC. They are also featured in ‘David and Goliath,’ an episode in MCC Ontario’s podcast, Undercurrents, which explores the history and current situation in Palestine and Israel. (File photo by Byron Rempel-Burkholder)
At its 2016 assembly, Mennonite Church Canada passed a resolution affirming nonviolent efforts of Palestinians and Israelis to overcome injustice in their region, and committing Canadian Mennonites to “deepen their understanding of Palestine-Israel relationships.”
Kitchener, Ont.—In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mennonite Central Committee is inviting supporters to join the organization in a day of prayer on Wednesday, March 25. “Times of uncertainty call us to reach out to the most vulnerable in our community: those locally and globally who will be most affected by this crisis,” MCC Ontario said in a statement. “We believe this is a time to recommit ourselves to caring for our neighbours and acting generously—whether in our own homes, across the street or around the world. We invite you to join us... as we come together for #MCCdaytopray.
The 2019 feature quilt, “Little Brown Church.” (Photo by St. Jacobs Printery)
Bids are tracked on a large screen at the New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale and quilt auction on May 25. This was the first year for online bidding, with six quilts going to buyers who placed their bids electronically. (MCC photo by Jesse Bergen)
Over the last 53 years, the New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale has raised more than $12 million for relief, development and peacemaking efforts around the world by Mennonite Central Committee. In that time, in addition to favourites like doughnuts, strawberry pies and spring rolls, more than 10,000 quilts have been pieced, quilted, donated and auctioned off at the New Hamburg sales.
KITCHENER, ONT.—Just weeks before it was scheduled to begin work in Ontario, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Ontario cancelled its 2015 meat canning events in Leamington and Elmira in April. According to Bob Lebold, MCC material resources coordinator, despite yearly updates to the 23-year-old canner trailer, it did not meet safety requirements this year. “A new canner is being built right now,” in Pennsylvania, he says. It will be state of the art and be able to produce more of the one-kilogram cans of meat more quickly.
