On 12/15/2020, members of the Magnolia Rotary Club toured the Mercy House which is the recipient of the club's annual district grant of $6,000. The sale of items benefit poor artisans from other countries like Africa and South America. Pictured above is the building where items can be purchased and the work to make it all happens is done. The location is at 5814 FM1488, Magnolia, Texas 77354.
Angie Shelton who is a Retail Associate at Mercy House Magnolia led the tour of the facility with the members of the Magnolia Rotary Club. Angie explained that Mercy House exists to engage, empower and disciple women around the globe in Jesus’ name. It engages those with resources to say yes to the plight of women in poverty. It empowers women and teenage mothers around the world through partnerships and sustainable fair trade product development. It also disciples women to be lifelong followers of Jesus Christ. Angie also pointed out that the goal of Mercy House is not to make great profits but to provide more jobs for those in need.
Angie told everyone on the tour that when COVID-19 started, it caused their sales to drop significantly. Trying to recover, Mercy House decided to take their store online using Facebook Live. As a result, sales have sky rocketed and they now have more sales than before COVID-19 started. In fact, Angie pointed out that as of this month, their total sales have reached $1,000,000 for the first time ever. As a result, they are focusing more efforts online next year and that is where the Magnolia Rotary Club comes in. The funds provided by the club will help build an online store front studio including new computers and audio / visual equipment.
Angie pointed out that Mercy House also has a subscription service where members pay a monthly or quarterly fee and receive surprise gifts packaged by volunteers at Mercy House. The tour showed not only their storefront but their receiving department, customer boxing department, shipping department and where the future online studio will be. Angie told everyone that they have about 4,000 subscribers currently. Most of the work to handle taking in goods and making them ready for sale is done by many volunteers from the local community.
A photo of some of the African artisans and their children can be seen below:
Some photos from the tour can be seen below:
A group photo taken at Eden's Cafe afterwards can be seen below:
