| Our History |
Our HistoryMarinersResources.org and the Mariners Resources warehouse celebrated its one-year anniversary in May, 2007. Prior to 2006, Mariners Church received donations at their Lighthouse Thrift Store on Harbor Boulevard in Costa Mesa, Calif., for four years. But when the building they were housed in sold in 2005 and the new owner doubled the rent, a volunteer team of business professionals from Mariners got together and came up with a new, more cutting-edge model for receiving and dispersing donated goods. The team looked at the key strengths of the Mariners Church organization. Recognizing that their core competency was building relationships, not doing retail, they created a new model which today develops partnerships to facilitate the process of connecting those in need with those who are willing to give. Part of the inspiration for MarinersResources.org, and what helped demonstrate the need for a separate warehouse, was Mariners Church's donation of the 2,000 theater seats from its former auditorium to Celebration Church in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. An annual "Pack-It and Park-It" all-church donation day, in which Mariners Church members leave their donated items behinds their cars while attending one of the church's three weekend services, helps replenish the Mariners Resources warehouse. Last year's donated items included kids bicycles, small BMX bikes (that were new or used and in good shape) and children's clothing, that were given to local military families, foster care organizations and orphanages. |
