MCC Relief Kits

December 9 Update:

It's not too late! There are approximately 24 buckets left and there is still time to fill a bucket and return it for Christmas Eve. If your bucket is already filled, you can drop it off at the church from 9am to 4pm on Monday to Friday.

If you want to fill a bucket but do not want to go shopping because of the pandemic, we have shoppers who will purchase the items on your behalf. The cost for the items is $50. Make arrangements with the church office know at office@erbf.com.

If you want to pick up a bucket but do not want to go inside the church building, contact the office and we can bring it outside to your car.

November 19 Update:

Almost 50 MCC relief buckets have been picked up at the church so far. Our goal is 100, so if you haven't had a chance already, please pick one up! Yes, under the new restrictions you can still pick up buckets or drop them off at the church. Come between 9am and 1pm Monday to Friday.

If you want to fill a bucket but do not want to go shopping because of the pandemic, we have shoppers who will purchase the items on your behalf. The cost for the items is $50. Make arrangements with the church office know at office@erbf.com.

If you want to pick up a bucket but do not want to go inside the church building, contact the office and we can bring it outside to your car.

WHY RELIEF KITS?

Have you ever heard, “It’s the thought that counts”? Sure you have. It’s the reason a mother puts her preschooler’s hand-picked bouquet of dandelions in a vase.

But there are times when good intentions are not enough, times when good intentions need to be guided by good thinking. Henry Ford once said about the poor, “The only thing you can give a man without hurting him is an opportunity.” Yet living in a materialistic culture, North Americans often view solutions to poverty in material terms. Wanting to put a smile on a poor child’s face is a good intention but finding ways to help the parent(s) put a smile on that child’s face is far better. (check out: "Stuffing shoe boxes for the world's poor? Maybe you should reconsider")

So rather than stuffing shoe boxes with things we hope will help the world’s poor, we want to fill refugee kits with things that people in crisis around the world have requested. After all, relief kits are one of the most requested items from MCC Material Resources.

The need for relief kits continues to grow as the lives of more and more people are disrupted by conflict or disaster. Last year, MCC distributed more than 24,500 relief kits to people in 10 countries, such as Jordan, Haiti, Ukraine, Syria and North Korea.

With a hundred years of experience, MCC has learned to combine good intentions with good thinking, to work with and through local partners and churches to provide relief and development.   

With each kit you are helping a family like Rose and her 5 children, that’s a big impact!

So from now until Christmas we want to invite you to pick up an empty bucket (or several) at church, purchase the items on the list, pack them in the bucket and bring it back to church by Christmas. We will deliver it to the local MCC Material Resources Centre in Abbotsford. 

Want to know how to pack a bucket? Click here! 

Interested in finding out more? Check out the Journey of a Kit Webinar.