On a November afternoon, Tonia Martin stood at a table in her church’s gymnasium. On her left was a stack of large black buckets, each packed with four colorful, neatly rolled towels. She picked up one bucket after another, placing four bars of laundry soap in each before passing them to the next volunteer, who added shampoo.

Then, she took a moment to look around the gym.

About 100 volunteers from Pleasant View Mennonite Church and neighbors from around Hydro, Okla., had gathered. Working in three assembly lines, they packed hygiene items into Mennonite Central Committee relief kits.

Martin rejoiced at the sight of everyone pitching in to help families around the world.

“As you just see everybody working together, the lines of people each doing their job, it’s just such a great representation [of the fact that] we bring different gifts to the world,” she said.

“. . . Together we can accomplish something pretty incredible.”

Volunteers assembled 2,018 MCC relief kits over two hours Nov. 15.

When the church first packed relief kits four years ago, they started with a goal of 400 kits and then packed another 600 later that year.

“We thought we were doing so many, we declared it ‘the year of the bucket,’ ” said Delvin Mast, who attends the LMC congregation and has led the planning each year.

The group packed 1,560 kits in year two and again in year three. Over time, he and other event planners have found ways to streamline the process, raising funds and making online purchases.

In 2025, fundraising began in August and wrapped up by October when a small group of volunteers began buying towels, toothbrushes and more. Buyers did extensive research to find the best prices, often buying in bulk, but not always. Towels, for example, were purchased in smaller amounts across time, so the team could accrue and spend department store loyalty rewards as efficiently as possible.

It’s a lot of orders to track.

“I make a big spreadsheet and keep track of all the orders that I’ve made and how many have come in,” Martin said.

By the time volunteers arrived, organizers had all the items laid out along the assembly lines. People could jump into different jobs, from packing items to securing bucket lids with mallets.

A group of children excitedly ran the completed kits outside to the MCC Central States truck, ready to transport kits to MCC’s Material Resources Center in Ephrata, Pa.

As items made their way from shipping boxes into relief kits, Anthony Peachy helped break down cardboard and take it outside. Joining him were five of his children, including a baby, who spent part of the day on his back.

“I love the example it is for my children to see a community come together and serve others,” he said. “And I hope they learn to value that, and hope they enjoy it as much as I do.”

Reggie Miller, meanwhile, served as a floating volunteer, ready to jump in wherever needed. He and his family previously served in Guatemala, Panama and the Philippines.

“I’ve always had a heart for overseas missions,” he said. “This is just a little bit of a chance for me to get back into that mission.”

The relief kits will touch the lives of families across the globe. Between April 2024 and March 2025, MCC shipped 21,401 relief kits to Cuba, ­Malawi, Gaza, Ukraine and Zambia.