Redemptive Entrepreneurship – MCC Thrift

Mennonite Central Committee is an international, Christian non-profit that works in disaster relief, peacebuilding, education initiatives, and many other causes. It has several headquarters all of the world, and various branches and business connected to the larger non-profit. One of these branches is MCC Thrift, which consists of a network of thrift shops all over North America. The stores resell clothes and household items, with all proceeds going to support MCC programs.

I see this idea as redemptive, but also innovative in the way it accomplishes many goals at the same time. It involves the local community and caters to inter-generational participation (something the church often struggle with). It creates an especially good opportunity for retirees who wish to get involved in ministry–in fact, the initiative was first started by elderly MCC volunteers! It is volunteer opportunity that people can get involved in through donating, working at the thrift shop, and through shopping at the store. MCC Thrift also positively impacts the local community more broadly, since it provides cheap but good quality goods for people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds in the surrounding area, as with any other second-hand shop. Of course, the program also provides a consistent flow of support for the larger non-profit, allowing it to operate with that extra confidence.

MCC Thrift is a redemptive and creative initiative that benefits both the shops’ local communities and (via funding of MCC) many programs all over the world. It gets community members involved in ministry in an accessible way and is a sustainable venture, as it sells a product and service that will be needed by communities indefinitely, therefore providing sustainable revenue for Mennonite Central Committee as a whole.

https://thrift.mcc.org/

https://mcc.org/