On Thursday morning I boarded a plane to Fresno, Ca. to meet up with Lovella, Anneliese and Judy to attend the MCC West Coast Mennonite Relief Sale and Auction.

Mennonite Central Committee was established in 1920 to provide relief for hungry families in southern Russia. Since then it has sent food, clothing, medical supplies and more to suffering people around the world. MCC works in partnership with local churches, community associations, government agencies and international organizations. All is done in the name of Christ.

Local farmers donated some of their crops of raisins and almonds to sell. Pies were baked from scratch with fresh ingredients from the area to raise money. Apricot, Rhubarb, Boysenberry, Peach, Cherry and Apple pies were tempting us all day long. Handcrafted cheese and jams were also available for sale. Frozen Vareniki and German Sausage was sold frozen by the dozen.

Hundreds of people gathered on the main campus of Fresno Pacific University to bid on handmade quilts and other hand made items.

A variety of ethnic foods were available for purchase including many Mennonite favorites like Zwieback, Borscht,  Vareniki and Portzelky.

Vareniki with a meat sauce and German sausage. Pluma Moos is in the bowl (a cold fruit soup).

So what were the Mennonite Girls doing while they were in Fresno at the sale?

First off we were being amazed at the downpour of rain on Friday. The out of the ordinary deluge put a damper on the beginning of the sale with many events being cancelled and others brought indoors. We presented our story on Friday night and signed books for anyone who was willing to brave the flooding streets and soggy grounds.

On Saturday morning things looked brighter and we had a very good turnout for our cooking demonstration.

We demonstrated another Mennonite favorite called Rollkuchen and served it with watermelon which is a classic summer treat.

We met many wonderful people and were treated so kindly by the couple who coordinates the event and makes it run smoothly. Kevin and his wife Rose were amazing. In the midst of everything they were in charge of they made us feel like we were their top priority. How they pulled that off put us in awe of their work ethic and dedication to this volunteer job. This is Kevin’s wife Rose with us along with their extended family. Rose made the aprons for all the girls in her family. Here’s Kevin introducing us to the crowd in the auction hall.

We were blown away when some of our books were auctioned off for a direct donation to the Good Shepherd Shelter in the Ukraine (a MCC project). One participant bid $1000 for a book. At least $2000 was raised for our Green House Project at the Good Shepherd Shelter.

We also had so much fun talking to people who came to our table to get their books signed.

My friend and cousin by marriage lives in the area and I got to spend some time with her. She and I were Home Economics Majors at Cal State L.A. and became good friends and then she married my cousin. One of my good friends from our former Seattle church texted her cousin’s family who live in Fresno and told them to make sure to look me up at the sale. It was so much fun to meet them.

When we weren’t busy at the sale we had some good brain storming times for some future obligations. We also had time to enjoy some good meals out. We all were on the same plane from Fresno to Seattle and sat together and debriefed. I left the girls when we touched down in Seattle and they rushed off to catch their connecting flight to Vancouver.

It was a rewarding 4 days and we are thankful to God for our safe travels in the air and on the ground in Fresno, especially during the rain storms that flooded many streets in the Fresno area. Here’s a photo Lovella took from the car on Friday on the flooded streets! Judy from My Front Porch has a wonderful recap with a great flood shot, too. One more recap to share with you. Here’s Anneliese’s story…

I’m adding some of the other girls photos to my post so I have them all here together for my memory of this event.

It’s good to be back home again. After Dear picked me up from the airport we headed north to La Conner for lunch and some time at the tulip festival. I’ll show those photos later.

I’m linking up with Mary for Mosaic Monday. I hope to be around soon to see what everyone has been up to.