By Mario Racicot
Director of E-commerce
Whenever you put an ‘e’ in front of something, it usually simply means ‘electronic.’ When it comes to our e-commerce here at CSS, I like to think our ‘e’ means so much more: evangelize, extra, and environmental.
Evangelize: CSS’s e-commerce is built to evangelize. We take great pride and joy in connecting buyers to our mission by sharing our history, programs, and our approach to sustainability. We have had buyers excited to learn about the Catholic Church’s impact in our community after purchasing something that would typically have been a simple transaction.
In some instances, buyers have come to pick up products, only to leave with a newfound excitement about CSS and our mission. Other times, we have met buyers who bought a product specifically from CSS to support the very organization that resettled them as refugees, or provided them food as a child through the food market or housed them and their mom as they escaped domestic violence. Their ability to support CSS now brings them great satisfaction and reminds us that our work is never done and why we do what we do. All for the love of God’s people.
Extra: Our e-commerce also aims to breathe extra life and extra impact into your donations. E-commerce has opened the doors to connecting your donation and our mission to buyers from all across the world, and has given Catholic Social Services a chance to raise more funding to help all we serve. Last October, a buyer was overjoyed to find a collector’s bear set on our eBay store. He purchased it and followed up with an exciting message and photos of the bears making it home to Poland! A simple cookie jar that others may not know the value of may be a precious collector’s item that we can now get to the right person and raise enough to help with last month’s utility bills for a family in a crisis situation.
Environmental: Finally, e-commerce has helped to multiply our environmental and sustainability efforts in new and creative ways. Our motto is simple: regift, resell, recycle. We take your donations seriously, and you can be confident your donations will be either regifted to someone in need, resold for funds to assist those in need or recycled to honor the gift of the earth and gain funds for those in need.
Through e-commerce and environmental stewardship, we can all help bring “Hope in the Good Life” and create a better future for people, the planet, and prosperity. Join our efforts by praying for us, shopping sustainably, donating things you don’t use around your home, or volunteering at our thrift stores or e-commerce department. Don’t forget to visit us at linktr.ee/cssnebraska.
I want to extend gratitude to our generous community and donors. They allow Catholic Social Services to take your donations and extend their life through regift and resale. Be assured of my continued prayers and gratitude for our community and donors who make all of this possible.
