Kindred Credit Union (Kindred) is delighted to partner with the New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale (NHMRS), as they take their long-standing quilt auction online for the second consecutive year. After the quick pivot last year to host a virtual sale amidst COVID-19 restrictions, NHMRS supporters showed that their commitment to Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) would continue to drive their support. Similarly, through societal shifts and economic ups and downs, Kindred’s partnership with NHMRS and MCC has held strong.
A partnership built on shared values
As MCC moves into its second century of service, we reflect on our shared history. MCC was formed in faith to help people in crisis and, with projects around the globe and close to home, it has continued to respond to humanitarian challenges, in relationship with the communities they walk alongside and with dignity as a central focus.
Kindred’s story began in 1964 when 22 Waterloo County Mennonites with a radical vision to see mutual aid put into faithful practice got together and deposited $22 in a cash box housed at MCC to create a credit union that could extend access to financial services across our community. MCC provided our first staff members, launching a strong partnership built on shared values.
Strengthening our bonds
As our respective communities’ needs have changed, we have adapted too, and the alignment between our organizations’ missions has continued to grow.
Kindred is guided by its purpose: Cooperative banking that connects values and faith with finances, inspiring peaceful, just, and prosperous communities. Together with MCC, Kindred shares a desire to walk alongside underserved community members. This is evident in Kindred’s joint support of the Living Wage movement, MCC’s many community outreach programs, and the use of the credit union’s resources to empower people with financial knowledge. We also find strong connection on the issues of community food security and climate action through shared partnership with organizations like Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
MCC redeveloped Kitchener’s “50 Kent” building in 2014, with a vision to create a centralized home for organizations that shared the values of peace, justice, and community. Kindred contributed $500,000 to the Raising Hope campaign to get this project off the ground, and its Kitchener branch is located there, alongside Thrift on Kent and other likeminded tenants.
Reciprocating this kind of community building, Kindred was pleased when MCC joined the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement in 2018 as a Core Collaborator.
The Centre, a partnership with Conrad Grebel University College at the University of Waterloo, is a dynamic space that is home to peace-oriented innovators and established organizations from the region's vibrant peacebuilding field.
Serving community needs
Amidst the ongoing pandemic and its economic consequences, MCC and Kindred have been working diligently to support our communities. At the same time, we’re filled with gratitude when we see how our communities are rising to support each other.
If you’re able, please consider supporting the NHMRS’s fundraising efforts generously, to benefit MCC’s projects locally and globally. Visit www.nhmrs.com to find out how you can participate in this year’s online auction.
