Linie Friesen, one of the original four founding members of the MCC Thrift Shops, passed away Tuesday, leaving behind a legacy of helping others.

Friesen, along with Sara Stoesz, Selma Loewen, and Susan Giesbrecht first began MCC's line of thrift stores 50 years ago. The successful non-profit work of Friesen, however, is only one of the great parts of her legacy that she will be remembered for.

Stoesz remembers Linie Friesen fondly.

"Very friendly and very hardworking," Stoesz recalled of Friesen.

Like anything, the now-international chain of thrift stores first began with a single shop. And as many great ideas come, this one was born over a cup of tea among good friends.

"Selma Loewen was at an MCC meeting in Steinbach," Stoesz remembers, "and she came home and she said 'you know, they don't really want that many clothes overseas anymore. We'll have to start something else.' So then she suggested that we start a thrift store."

Stoesz says she never imagined that Loewen's simple idea would be so successful.

"Winnipeg and Winkler and Morden, yeah, they all started one, too. And even across Canada."

But while the rapid growth of the MCC Thrift Shops may have surprised Stoesz, she believes that the reason was very much due to the stores meeting a need in communities across the province.

"Clothing [is] expensive, and these were second-hand, still good clothing, though."

"What we attempt to do is lift communities in ways that take advantage of the robust capacity that even small communities may have in challenging circumstances and help communities to flourish," explained Darryl Loewen, executive director of MCC Manitoba.

MCC today has grown to be a network of Anabaptist churches with programs such as the MCC Thrift Stores domestically run within our province. All funds raised by MCC's thrift stores across North American are aggregated to be placed into international programs in about 56 countries worldwide.

"In the case of the thrift shops... it became more flexible and therefore better directed to turn resources like second-hand goods into cash that could be converted into projects that were really well suited to the wide context of places around the world," Loewen said.

Friesen's legacy can be clearly seen as reflecting the organization's mission of providing relief, development, and peace in the name of Christ. Her work, geared towards providing both a local response to needs for items such as clothing and household wares at low costs coupled with the international results of that work through funds being provided to positively impact lives far beyond Manitoba exemplifies Friesen's commitment to bettering the existence of others.

Loewen, who knew Friesen personally, says he was both saddened by her passing and encouraged by the life she lived.

"It's sad on the one hand, whenever loved ones are lost. She was loved by the community and I was a friend in the community and involved in the education of some of Linie's grandkids and friends to their family... but when the life that Linie led was so well led across 97 years, you can only celebrate the life that was lived and has now passed.

"She was a small bundle of great energy with great interest in the arts, interest in her community, in elevating women's opportunities, perhaps at a time when some of the wider community just wouldn't have had their eye on it," Loewen shared, "and looking to help."