A Season for Giving and Gratitude
Dear MCC Thrift Volunteer,
The 2025 Christmas Giving Guide is here—and it’s full of joy, hope, and meaningful ways to make a difference!
As someone who generously gives your time at MCC Thrift, you already know the power of community and compassion. This Christmas, we invite you to take that spirit even further by exploring MCC’s Giving Guide and sharing it with your loved ones.
Whether it’s a fruit tree for $20 to help a farmer earn income, a beekeeping kit for $43 to support thriving ecosystems, or a sewing machine for $150 to empower someone’s livelihood—each gift is a chance to bring comfort and joy to families around the world.
You can:
• Give a gift in honour of someone special and send a personalized e-card.
• Print a card at home or request one to be mailed to you.
GM’s Corner
Beyond one Day: Listening, Learning and Living the work of Reconciliation
Each year on September 30, Canadians mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation—a time to honour the children who never returned home from residential schools, the Survivors who carry their stories forward, and the families and communities still seeking healing and justice.
At the Care and Share Thrift Shop, our daily work is rooted in care, generosity, and community. Every donation, purchase, and volunteer hour helps restore dignity and build connection. Yet we know that true community cannot exist without truth. Reconciliation begins when we make space to hear hard stories, to sit with discomfort, and to seek understanding.
As a faith-informed community, we believe truth-telling is sacred work. Jesus reminds us, “The truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Freedom comes only when we face the truth — about our history, our complicity, and
• Share the guide with friends, family, and customers at your thrift shop.
Even though the printed guide may be delayed due to the Canada Post strike, you can browse and shop online anytime (mcc.org/christmas). You can also pick up a copy of the guide at your Thrift shop.
We hope you will choose a gift that celebrates your values and spreads hope.
Thank you for contributing to MCC’s mission. Your passion and compassion help make this season brighter for everyone.
With gratitude and joy,
Kim Lester Associate Executive Director
our shared responsibility for healing.
That is why our shop closes on September 30. That’s why the staff from all over Ontario come together. A day of reflection, lament, and learning. By pausing our usual activity, we acknowledge that reconciliation matters more than routine. We invite everyone, staff, volunteers, and customers to use this time to listen to Indigenous voices, attend community events, and reflect on what reconciliation looks like in daily life.
Even though Truth and Reconciliation Day has passed, its message carries forward all year long. Reconciliation is more than a date on the calendar—it’s a way of walking through the world with open ears, open hands, and open hearts.
Each act of generosity is an act of reconciliation — a small way of being the care and living the share, every day of the year.
Brian Ingram General Manager MCC Care & Share
Scent-Free Workplace Reminder
To help keep our space safe and welcoming for everyone, we kindly ask all staff and volunteers to refrain from wearing scented products while on site. This includes perfumes, colognes, body sprays, scented lotions, and other fragranced items. Some friends of Care and Share have allergies and sensitivities, and strong scents can cause serious reactions. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in creating a healthy, inclusive environment for all!
volunteers added to our family so far this month! Let’s welcome:
BIRTHDAYS
Joke of the Month
Annual Volunteer Survey Coming Soon!
We value your feedback! Keep an eye on your inbox for our annual volunteer survey, arriving in late November or early December. Your insights help us improve and celebrate the amazing work you do—thank you for being part of our community!
Around the Shop
Congratulations Volunteers!!! This award is for YOU! Our shop won the Environmental Sustainability Award 2025 for the town of Stouffville! The Environment Sustainability Award is part of the Community Impact Awards in Stouffville, recognizing individuals and organizations that contribute significantly to environmental initiatives in the community. This wouldn’t have been possible without your consistent hard work, keep up the AMAZING work!
MCC Care & Share Thrift Shop take on Mennonite Festival! What a fun filled day we had representing Care and Share! The day was filled with smiles, new faces, pies, a little chilliness but lots of sunshine and more! We had an awesome turn out, thank you to
On Truth and Reconciliation Day, the staff from our shop and the various other MCC Thrift shops met in Kitchener to learn more about the experiences of Indigenous peoples, the legacy of residential schools, and what meaningful reconciliation looks like today.
Keeping it classy… even when it’s a little sassy
Akashpreet, Don and Mari who volunteered with us!
Give Gifts of Comfort and Joy Chris as Giving Guide
It’s the most wonderful time of the year: MCC’s annual Christmas giving guide is back! Every year, MCC publishes its Christmas guide as a way for you to give gifts with impact worldwide. In addition to a nice sweater or new toy for your loved one, add the gift of education for a girl in Ethiopia, or a duck for a family in Bangladesh.
Here are some unique gifts to add to your Christmas list:
Clean water at school
Share a gift of clean water!
This handwashing station at a primary school in Ethiopia helps Selam Bulo, a third-grade student, and her peers in Batu, Ethiopia stay clean, healthy and fully immersed in their studies.
Room at the inn
$75
For people on the move, an open door, a warm bed and a listening ear offer great comfort and hope. This gift helps people like pastors Victor Lampón Leon and Rocio Valencia Islas in Mexico have the supplies they need, including mattresses, pads and sheets so that they can extend hospitality to those moving through their communities.
Sewing machine
$150
Go the extra yard with a gift tailor-made for those who love to sew. With a machine of hers own, Mariyum Khatun of Bangladesh can start a new business to support her family.
This Christmas, by helping our global neighbours build skills, grow food or meet basic needs, your generosity brings cause for celebration long after your tree comes down and the lights are put away.
Find the 2025 Christmas catalogues at receiving, cash and volunteer lunch rooms. You can also distribute these to your churches – we have 25,000 copies to give out! Talk to your Volunteer Engagement Manager if you need copies.
You can also shop online by going to mcc.org/Christmas and sending an e-card after making your donation. Or call 888-622-6337 toll-free to talk to an MCC representative. You can select your gifts and request e-cards or paper-cards that you can send to your loved ones.
