Getting Ready for the Kansas Mennonite Relief Sale
The day before the sale, a snapshot of the day in the life of the volunteers
“It’s the second largest event at the Fairgrounds besides the State Fair,” said John Robb, Chairman of the Kansas Mennonite Relief Sale at the Fairgrounds in Hutchinson, KS.
Volunteers are a cast of thousands. Thirty-six 8th-graders from the Remington School District, (USD 206). Volunteers from the Working Men of Christ, Amish farmers and many more come together as a well-oiled machine to raise over a half million dollars in two days.
The Mennonite Central Committee fundraiser aims to help people around the world who are in a disaster situation. Delbert Peters, a volunteer with the Feeding the Multitude Committee said, “That’s what motivates hundreds of people to do the hard work.”
Fairgrounds staff were also part of the busy day, setting up tables, benches, trash cans, electrical lines, and more.
Domestic Arts Building
“This is where we eat!” Robb said. As students from USD 206 set up tables, Robb explained that sale-goers can buy food made from recipes of the Mennonite Russian-Ukrainian heritage including New Year cookies and verenike.
New Year cookies are similar to an apple fritter with a sugar glaze, but instead of using apples, it’s made with raisins.
Verenike is a kind of fried dumpling made with cottage cheese that is first steamed and then fried and served with ham gravy.
John Klaassen, sale manager, explained that the Verenike is made ahead of time and then frozen. During the sale, volunteers use two retro-fitted semi-trailers they refer to as “cook sheds” to make the New Year Cookies and to steam and fry the Verenike. The State Fair does not allow deep frying foods in the Domestic Art Building, so the volunteers constructed the trailers in order to cook these traditional dishes.
Another trailer is used specifically for storing carpet remnants. Carpets are used in these trailers to absorb cooking oil drippings so volunteers don’t slip and fall. The carpet is then disposed of after the sale.
Klaassen explained they have seven semi-trailers in all, about four are for cooking and the others are primarily used for storage. The trailers are parked near Buhler when not in use at the sale.
Cherry moos is also served along with ice cream. Cherry moos is a traditional special occasion dessert that is sometimes called fruit soup.
Different cheeses and meats are also available for purchase, and visitors can paint eggs in the Ukrainian tradition.
Meadowlark Building
“The quilts are here!” Klaassen said after a quick phone call. He then raced across the fairgrounds in his golf cart and promptly jumped into a skid steer with a pallet loader. He started unloading pallets of quilts and quilting supplies from a semi-trailer parked on the south side of the building.
Klaassen said before he used a golf cart, he would log 12 miles of walking getting ready for the sale.
Three other volunteers were setting up a projection screen next to the Quilt Auction Stage.
USD 206 students were wiping down hundreds of benches and tables with a cleaning solution and rags.
Volunteers were also wiping down the wooden quilt frames and measuring to the closest inch of the distance between the racks ensuring everything was perfectly aligned.
Robb stated that the quilts are stored in the Mennonite Central Committee building in Newton. “Tomorrow (Friday) by 4:00 pm, all the quilts will be hung.” The quilt auction starts at 8:45 a.m. Saturday.
“The quilt auction raises over $100,000 each year, and we usually raise more at the quilt auction than the general auction,” Charlene Driggers of Hillsboro said.
Quilts are gathered from different divisions of Mennonite and Amish churches across the state.
“I think there are about 70 churches involved,” Diggers said.
Registration for the 5K Run/Walk for Relief is also in the Meadowlark Building. T-shirts were neatly laid out by size on a table ready for the morning runners. The start time for the run is 8:00 am sharp.
Sunflower South Building
“This is the building full of stuff to buy,” said a volunteer who brought in a two-foot tall potted Norfolk Pine donated by a member of her church. In this building, sale-goers can buy plants, crafts fair trade coffee, chocolate, Christmas decorations and silent auction items.
Volunteers and USD 206 students were unloading dozens of flats of flowers, donated by Neosho Gardens in Council Grove, KS.
Sunflower North Building
“This is where the general auction is held,” said a volunteer. In the general auction, larger items are often sold including motorcycles, cars, trucks, tractors, RVs and more.
Volunteers were also setting up free-standing peg board displays and preparing a volunteer break room and a concession stand for ice cream and other food items.
Pride of Kansas Building
“Kids activities are in this building,” Robb said.
Robb explained that the building is where the Children’s Auction is held. In addition, kids can play a round of miniature golf, jump in the inflatables and is the depot for a barrel train.
Families can pay a basic fee and purchase an armband for the activities. The barrel train this year is free with a request for a donation.
“This is a fundraising event, after all,” Robb said.
Cottonwood Court Building
“We are preparing 3,200 German-Russian meals, and this is where we are Feeding the Multitude,” a volunteer with the Feeding the Multitude Committee said.
Visitors can enjoy a lengthy menu including verenike and cherry moos in addition to some other traditional dishes like bohne beroggi, a sweetened bean paste baked in a soft roll dough, and served with a sweet cream “gravy” similar to a waffle sauce.
Borscht soup and zwieback are also served here in addition to verenike and German sausage. Here, two more semi-trailers are used for cooking in addition to three booth spaces in the Cottonwood Court. A third, smaller trailer is used to cook the borscht soup in large iron kettles. Red beet borscht is served on Saturday, 10:30 am to 1:00 pm, and the “normal borscht” is served on Friday, 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm.
Much of this food is prepared ahead of time by volunteers with the churches. Electricians come and run special lines to operate the warming trays.
Debbie Nightingale of Halstead explained the Feeding the Multitude Committee is run by six couples and must serve a term of six years.
Morton Building
“This is where we purchase and distribute supplies,” Marcy Schrag of Mound Ridge said. The Purchasing and Supplies Committee buys the purchase orders for the approximately 38 committees coordinating the sale.
Schrag says 2,200 pounds of flour, 1,150 styrofoam bowls for ice cream, 3,000 dinner plates and 2,550 6-inch plates were purchased for the sale.
The Money
“We use 70 cash boxes the day of the sale,” Cheryl Miller, treasurer of the Kansas Mennonite Relief Sale, said
Churches raise money before the sale to cover the costs of running the sale. All auction items are donated either by churches or by individuals or families who do not practice Mennonite beliefs.
Work is done on this sale all year long, explained Miller.
“It takes a tremendous amount of responsibility to collect the items, store them, and the number of volunteers,” Miller said.
Jerry Shafer, sale day treasurer, explained how the work is divided.
“There are Sale Day Managers and Sale Managers, and that helps break up some of the work involved,” Shafer said.
Shafer explained that all the sale day money goes to the MCC in Newton. They check where the need is in the world and distribute the money where it is most needed. “All we (the Kansas Mennonite Relief Sale) do is raise the money.”
Sale Details
The sales activities begin at 4:00 pm and last until 8:30 pm on Friday, April 12. Saturday activities start with breakfast at 7:00 and conclude after the Surplus Auction beginning at approximately 2:30 pm.
According to their website, The Mennonite Central Committee is a global, nonprofit organization that strives to share God’s love and compassion and works with partners to respond to disasters. They are currently helping in war-torn parts of the world including Ukraine and Gaza.
It does not cost to attend. For more information about the sale, visit www.kansas.mccsale.org.
This is the most informative piece I’ve ever read on the Mennonite auction! Great job!