Anyone who needs a parking space near Fifth Avenue and Main on a Tuesday morning around 9:45 must be resigned to a lengthy walk. As many as 40 people can sometimes be seen lined up at the doors of Niverville’s MCC Thrift Shop, waiting for the store to open. Because it is closed on Mondays for restocking, customers often anticipate new bargains.
The Niverville store is one of 16 in Manitoba, and 108 in Canada and the U.S. In 2015, it raised $375,800 in revenue, of which $201,000 went as funding to the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) for aid projects around the world. MCC’s outreach to the needy in disaster areas and poverty-stricken countries is well documented on their Canadian website. Besides meeting basic human needs, their ministry includes work toward sustainable development, peace, and justice. The local thrift shop accounted for 23 percent of funding raised in Manitoba for MCC this past year.
Five women, all from local churches who wanted to assist Mennonite communities suffering in Russia, founded the thrift shop over 40 years ago. The population of Niverville was about 900 at that time. The store has had to move four times to accommodate that growth and now serves customers who travel from communities near and far, including the U.S.
Manager Gerald Loeppky says that the thrift shop is a business hub in the community that meets needs at many levels. Some of the volunteers are descendants of the original Russian-born recipients of aid and have been giving back to the community for decades. Many from Winnipeg travel here for the sense of community in this clean, spacious, and well-lit store. Starting as donors, they then become volunteers and customers. Local churches take turns providing volunteer cashiers.
For many customers, the thrift shop provides an opportunity to socialize and benefit others. Noel and Jeannette Delaurier have made Tuesdays in Niverville a special time in their week.
“It’s our Walmart!” Jeannette laughs, and then adds, more seriously, “It has been such a blessing in our lives. Sure, we could shop at designer stores elsewhere, but here we know our purchases help others.”
When asked if it bothered him that people who are relatively well off also shop there, Loeppky replies, “Absolutely not. Most often they are our largest donors of quality products that make this store possible. They also want their purchases to benefit others.”
A former furniture store owner, Loeppky confides that the second best thing about his work is how it helps others. “People drive the business and building relationships is key. In business, the primary focus has to be profit. Here, in this store, people are the main point of our business and that has been a transforming experience for me. We price according to guidelines from MCC. By repurposing gently used items, we reduce waste. Three percent of our revenues, about $12,000, is given back to the community through financial support of programs and organizations such as Helping Hands, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, the Niverville Personal Care Home, the Niverville Health Foundation, and sponsorship of the Imagine Health Run.”
He is particularly proud of the store’s relationship with Niverville Collegiate Institute. The store provides work experience opportunities and an annual $500 volunteerism scholarship for graduates. Volunteer hours count toward a high school credit for volunteerism.
About once a month, Crystal Springs Hutterite Colony fills a five-ton truck with clothing items that then get shipped to Liberia. Often certain clothing items are directed to Siloam Mission in Winnipeg or to other MCC thrift shops in Manitoba that have specific needs. Store purchases are limited to greeting cards and material for the thousand blankets a year that are assembled by volunteers to be used in disaster areas. Donations are moved through the store within six weeks, many repaired and cleaned by talented volunteers. Bags of rags are sold for use in garages and farm shops. Collectibles are most often sold through silent auction.
When asked if there was a downside to his work, Loeppky says, “No, just some specific challenges. We try to keep a handle on what we call backroom pricing to ensure fairness for our volunteers as well as our customers. Also, one of our largest expenses is disposal, about $7,000 a year, and that could be significantly lowered if people would not use our facility as a garbage disposal. The $20 cost to dispose of an unusable recliner and stained mattress means one less family can be helped by MCC’s Global Family program.”
