Yard Sale!

I've been grinning since Friday just before 3 and haven't stopped since.  Well, maybe a few times, but the grin keeps coming back.  The charity group that I belong to held a Yard Sale on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, and it was so fun for everyone involved.  Our goal was to collect enough "goods" to sell to the local drivers, helpers and yard maintenance workers (hired by the village to keep the place looking good) at really cheap prices, while raising some money for the medical fund for underprivileged children that we're involved with at the local hospital.   The first reason for my grinning?  My expectation, with having mostly clothes and small items, was $200-300, while my friend Dalenea's was a little higher at $500.  We ended up raising approximately $700 US in little less than 5 hours.

Sales like these are not all that common here.  In fact, we've only ever seen a similar sale at our school, held through the Parents Committee, and that one is usually quite successful too.  The second reason for my grinning?  Every time I see a helper or driver that knows I was part of the event asks me "Mrs, when's the next sale??"   Realistically, probably once or twice a year is enough with all the collecting and work that goes into one, but when I give that answer it brings a smile every time.  Now regardless of what position I hold this time next year in the charity group, I'll have to push for a 2nd Annual Yard Sale.

The 3rd reason for grinning is that every person who bought clothing at the sale that I've seen since Saturday has been wearing something they bought for themselves.  This morning my helper arrived from her home with a big smile on her face, her new pretty, green shirt on, and again, with the question "when is the next one?"  When we went shopping, I tapped on the window of my friend's car, waved hello to her waiting driver, and the next thing I know he's popped up next to my car with his new, long-sleeved men's dress shirt on, grinning, and helped us unload the groceries into my car.

To be honest, we could just give the things away that we collected.  In fact, with having help in our homes, that is usually what we do with anything that our children have outgrown or we've become tired of (kind of sad, isn't it, that we become tired of things so easily).  However, the buzz that was at this Yard Sale, and the sense of community was really neat.  Although the pace was really, really fast (can you say mind-spinning!?) most of the time, and we were all dripping with sweat, tired and thirsty, it was really fun to help people shop, make change, work as a team and, in the last hour, to practically give things away for free.  The guy who walked away with a swivelling office chair for about 20 cents didn't really know what to do with the chair (rode in on a motorbike) but was ecstatic he'd bought himself a chair.  My friend's helper didn't need anything, but she bought a bunch of baby clothes for her sister in their home village 12 hours away.  One security guard isn't married yet, but he bought a wooden high chair, some lamps, and a set of wooden blinds for a couple of dollars, for who knows who.  He went back and forth on his motor bike a few times just to haul his treasures away.  Each time he rode with a grin.  That made the collecting, sorting, printing, cutting, taping, sticking, folding and hauling all worth it.

Thanks for reading