Mountain Lake Area Relief fundraising event is this Saturday
A Mountain Lake Area Relief fundraiser for Syrian Relief will be held this Saturday, March 19, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Mountain Lake Christian, located at 710 11th Street North. Free-will donations will be collected.
Featured this Saturday will be a locally-made ethnic supper of varenikje – or verenike or vareniki. No matter how the name of the main dish is spelled, the culinary treat will be these cottage cheese pockets topped with gravy, ham, pie and ice cream – as well as a bake sale.
Ninety-percent of funds raised will be distributed to Syria Relief through the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) for food and medication for the displaced and vulnerable people of the country and 10% to the Mountain Lake Community Loaves and Fishes Food Shelf. The goal is $15,000.
MCC is a global, nonprofit organization that strives to share God’s love and compassion for all through relief, development and peace.
To leave or to stay? Many Syrian families face that question as the conflict continues to rage around them. International humanitarian assistance is dwindling, and the patchwork of resources on which the citizens rely on is wearing thin. To leave is to risk their lives over dangerous seas and through countries hesitant to open their doors. But to stay is also a great risk. MCC is in-country providing a humanitarian response – and advocating for a long-term solution so that Syrians can have enough food, water, shelter and work to survive.
Here is a first-hand account of the work being done daily with the support of MCC.
Every morning, before Samer al Laham goes to work, he checks to make sure it’s safe to go outside. That’s because in Syria there are some days when “people wake up in the morning and then see that there are a lot of mortars falling,” said al Laham, country and program director with MCC’s partner Middle East Council of Churches (MECC).
But mornings like that don’t halt work for long. “Maybe after a few hours, when things become much more stable, people begin going out and really doing their business,” he said.
That’s the unpredictable reality of life in Syria after more than four years of conflict. In Daraa, where one of MECC’s offices is located, they might only get water once or twice a week. Unreliable electricity means they need generators to charge computers and cell phones, and deliveries of relief supplies are more expensive because of high gas prices.
And yet hours after mortars have fallen, MCC’s local partners head back to work.
In this difficult context, MECC continues to provide much needed humanitarian relief to both internally-displaced people and the communities hosting them.
Since 2012, MCC has partnered with MECC in Syria to distribute items such as hygiene supplies, blankets, winter clothing and heaters. In Daraa Governorate from June to September MECC provided hygiene kits, children’s clothing and feminine hygiene supplies to 4,300 households.
These distributions were done with a $1.5 million grant from the Government of Canada, which is again matching donations from individual Canadians to relief work in Syria. In the United States, individual donations to MCC support Syrians in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and other parts of Syria.
In countries like Syria it’s only through partnerships with local organizations that MCC is able to do this work. Local partners understand and work within security constraints and also have longstanding connections in communities like Daraa.
Part of that relationship is getting input from people receiving the supplies. MECC has an extensive database documenting the needs of each family registered with them. They also have volunteers who are displaced themselves who consult with others and report back about what the needs are.
This makes sure that MCC’s programs with MECC are providing what people actually need, said al Laham. “The cornerstone of our program is to depend on people who are really living in the hardship conditions, and really to know exactly what kind of support they need.”
Another fundraiser to help support MCC’s work in Syria to mark on the calendar is a special concert scheduled for Sunday, April 10, in Bethel Mennonite Church, located at 301 9th Street North in Mountain Lake. A variety of musical presentations will be presented. More information on the concert will be posted at a later date.
