Global outreach through personal connections

“We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them,” reflect Rick and Carole Martens when they think about the devoted group of Mennonites in Canada who helped their grandparents and parents, along with other family members leave southern Russia (present-day Ukraine) in the 1920s.

Family stories shared with Rick Martens in childhood helped lay the groundwork for a lifetime of engagement with MCC. Since he and his wife, Carole Martens (Schmidt) moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the 1970s, the local connections they’ve forged there have helped them transform their gratitude for MCC’s work into creative fundraising efforts with other area Mennonites.

Here are some of the lifelong, and life-giving, relationships that have guided the Martens family through an ongoing journey of generosity — and helped them lead others toward giving customs of their own. 

As Rick and Carole grew up in the Winnipeg, Manitoba, area, they often heard about the Mennonite families in Canada who extended helping hands across the world to assist families like theirs in Ukraine. These outreach efforts helped lay the groundwork for MCC.

Rick Martens’ family came from the villages of Kronstal and Rosental (now Dolynske and Kantserivka, in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region) and Carole’s from the Molochna area and both faced persecution during the Russian Revolution. Members of the family were captured and killed by Bolshevik and Machnovist forces, and Rick Martens’ grandfather narrowly evaded the same fate before he was able to receive support in moving to Saskatchewan and ultimately to Winnipeg. It was there that Rick Martens grew up. Through youth programming at his Mennonite church, he met his wife, who had grown up hearing similar stories about her own family. 

Rick and Carole Martens both knew of MCC through church services and fundraising dinners that served verenika and other foods traditional to their families. But it was “the stories from family, from parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts” that truly imprinted MCC’s impact in both of their minds.

These stories prepared the couple to embrace the giving opportunities they discovered as they built a life together. 

Rick and Carole Martens married in 1969. They remained in the Winnipeg area through their mid-20s before moving, at first throughout Canada. Carole Martens began a career in education, and Rick Martens in real estate development. A job opportunity brought them to Minneapolis, where they have stayed for 46 years. In that time, they’ve fostered a giving spirit in their children and grandchildren.

The couple initially joined Faith Mennonite Church, which was actively involved in fundraising for, and serving with, MCC. During the Vietnam War, many men in the church had completed alternative service with the organization, and the church at large was engaged in advocating for peace. “We really learned the focus of MCC,” Rick Martens says of their first years with the church. They admired MCC’s development work and dedication to extending a hand to families of all cultural and faith backgrounds. As Carole Martens came from a farming family, MCC’s agriculture projects have held special significance. And MCC’s relief work in Ukraine has continued to speak to them, about a century after their own families began rebuilding their lives in Manitoba.

As church members continued to find unique ways to lend their time to MCC, their attention turned to making and auctioning quilts. “There were some unbelievably talented quilt makers” in the community, reflects Carole Martens. These efforts led to the establishment of annual Twin Cities MCC (TCMCC) Relief Sales, which between 2001 and 2021 raised $1 million for the organization. 

“Quilts were the number one thing, and they were sold in different ways,” says Carole Martens. These well-attended events also included food vendors, sales run by and catered toward children, face-painting booths and more. Rick and Carole Martens brought their families, including grandchildren, to these events and they actively participated. Their oldest granddaughter, Jordan, ran the children’s store for several years. One MCC program at the time, related to housing, really got the family’s attention. They were astounded to see how a $400 gift could provide a home for someone in need. 

As news of the annual event spread across the Twin Cities area, families from a wide range of faith traditions became eager to get involved, both as attendees and planners. For Rick Martens, their involvement speaks to the wide appeal of MCC’s mission. “MCC is just particularly good. … It's been around for 100 years, 101 years. And it just does the right kind of work that really resonates with people,” he says. 

The TCMCC group was also a wonderful way, Rick and Carole Martens reflect, to sustain and grow many friendships and relationships formed within the local Mennonite community. These friendships remain strong and meaningful today.
 

As Rick Martens found many blessings in his work, he built bonds with a team of financial advisers in Minnesota. The Martens family told the advisers about their commitment to organizations like MCC. “They knew we had these various charitable group connections that we’re giving to or active in, in terms of committees, boards and things like that,” he says. So, about 15 years ago, after Rick Martens had some good years in the real estate business, his advisers knew that a donor-advised fund (DAF) would be a good fit for him. 

Through a DAF, donors can put funds toward a charitable giving account in a year when it works best financially for them. From there, donors can direct funds to causes close to their hearts in a matter of minutes from their financial services provider’s web portal. “I don’t want to exaggerate … but I bet you it takes me less than three minutes,” says Rick Martens, who says that he and his wife use the funds to donate to organizations like MCC at the end of every year, but also when a particular cause or story compels them to do so. 

Rick and Carole Martens have seen legacy giving options — leaving funds to an organization in one’s will or requesting memorial donations — become popular in their church and community. And while they value the significance of such donations, they also know that, in a world where many families face immediate challenges, it’s also crucial to give in the present day. 

By making donations from a DAF now, Rick and Carole have not only been able to see the impact of their generosity but have also found ways to share this giving journey with others. Rick Martens recalls how he inspired a friend of his to not only set up a DAF of his own, but to support MCC through it.

And, in sharing their stories, Rick and Carole Martens have been able to talk with their children, in-laws and grandchildren about the importance of giving. While friends and loved ones hold a range of worldviews, they have been able to find an aspect of MCC’s relief, development and peace work that speaks to each of them. “We can talk to anybody about it,” they say. “And want to do more of that.”