Annual Garage Sale

So much happening lately that I am a little slack on the blog posts. I can't believe I did not blog about hockey playoffs or the election. I must be getting old, or something.

I thought I would give a plug for our annual garage sale which is happening this coming Saturday. We are gearing up .... we have been gearing up for a long time now ... and will be ready for the crowds on Saturday morning. I just brought home some nice bookshelves, (4)  a filing cabinet, and a steel shelf for the garage. Our basement is full of all sorts of items that are priced and ready to set out on the tables.

It is a lot of work but very satisfying. Ken and Jan are heading to Africa in June and will be  bringing back a report on how things are going in Mwanza. We are all excited to report that a young woman from the USA is going to Mwanza to work there with the kids full time. We met a few months ago so the connection has been made and that makes it all the more meaningful to help supply funds for the kids of Mwanza.

Thanks in advance to all of you who will be coming to the sale, and a huge thanks to the many, many people who donated items this year again.

Mouat Drive, Abbotsford.   8am - 3pm. Rain or shine.

A Little Late

I sometimes forget what photos I have lurking on my SD card. I finally got around to taking a peek and found this photo, which reminded me that I had not done a report on the annual fund raiser garage sale we had on the May long weekend. (At least not on this blog) This is our carport with $1200.00 worth of 'stuff' for sale. The photo was taken at 7:30 am, just as the first customer was arriving. By day's end, together with donations we raised around $3000.00. We were an inspiration to a group in Kelowna who also raise funds for the Mwanza Orphanage, and they had a sale a few weeks later, raising an additional $1200.00. Two of our 60 orphans are now able to move on to secondary education which gives them a huge advantage in their life's journey.

Now begins the year long task of saving up items and promoting the sale to others so we can have another fund raiser next year.

Everything But the Kitchen Sink

Garage Sale: The Sequel

The weather was cool today but at least the rain held off as we opened for another day of business. Ken was up bright and early to post the signs but because it was a long weekend and a holiday Monday, there was almost no traffic and the customers came very slowly at first.

It was a chance for me to snap a few photos with few people and no rain on my lens. The carport contained it all except for a few extra items that Delores brought.

One thing she brought, which kept four of us busy for an hour, was a huge box of pennies. We had several bags of coin wrappers and went to it. Six thousand pennies later, we were done and it added another $60 to our kitty. Thanks, Delores.

Who was going to buy our picked over leftovers?

We slashed prices and made deals nobody could refuse. We increased the size of our 'free' pile.

The mountain of crystal we had just was not selling well. The beautiful figurines that were once somebodies pride and joy, were sitting, lonely and unloved.

Who could not give this beauty a new home? Her sister, behind her, was equally perplexed.

These beauties were left right to the end, as were the twin angels below. Has everyone abandoned the aesthetic for the practical?

At the end of the day, we had made an extra $300.00 and had eliminated quite a bit of packing up and hauling off. We will have a final tally in a day or two. My task tomorrow is to empty the tools from my truck and haul all the goodies to the Thrift Store. Fortunately, we have a large selection of such establishments to chose from so I am hoping I come back empty handed.

A huge thank you to all who donated items. Many of you are readers of this blog. Without you, there would be no sale, and then no new bedding for the orphans, to go along with the new mattresses they just received. And, of course, an extra big thank you to Bill and Ella, who worked tirelessly on Friday to help set up and price, and then back again bright and early on Sat. to put in a full day of selling, and keeping us dry with the tent and tarps. And to busylizzy for pricing, for what seemed like days, storing a lot of stuff in her basement for the last six months, setting up, selling, and providing us with coffee and danish and other sustaining nutrients. And to Delores for all her donated items, many of them personal items that were hard to part with, for helping set up, for selling, and helping pack up at the end. And to Henry and Heidi for coming out despite both of them having health issues. and to Frank and Elma for the tables and moral support in times of a relapse of health issues and a multitude of spring projects on the farm. And to Ken and Jan. It is their fault we do this insanity every year. But wow! What workers and organizers. Both days, full time, setting up, advertising and signage, selling, cleanup, trucking, and just doing whatever it took to make it work.

After five years, we know what it takes to do this, but we still do it. I cannot speak for the others, but I think the reasons are many. It is a chance to help, in a small way, the less fortunate of the world. It is an opportunity to work together and have a lot of fun doing it. It is a chance to meet people of our neighbourhood and our city. It is a chance to 'clean house' of the extraneous materialism we are all guilty of. And it is a chance to feel that warm glow of being dead tired after accomplishing something of great value.

See you again next year.

It Was a No-Photo Event

Flat out for so many days, and now a bit of a break. The garage sale is a lot of work (and a lot of fun) without regular life interfering, but this year everything on my plate contrived to almost do me in. When the rain started exactly when the sale started, I just gave in, and then I was fine. Bill, the insightful and wise member of our group, was an absolute lifesaver today when he came with a fantastic big open tent and a few large tarps. We barely managed to cover almost everything and eventually, there was so little stuff left that the tent and tarps could come down.
We had a different variety of items this year, and had a greater item count than usual, with less big ticket items. We did have some furniture and it is all gone except for a desk. That is always the biggest concern. We (I) turned down a few truck loads of donated items at the last  minute on Friday and it was good that I did. It would have got soaked. We, at this moment, on Sat. night, have enough items left in our carport for another sale on Monday morning. So, no final tally of receipts until the last doodad is sold, or carted away to MCC. We do know that the Mwanza orphanage is a little better off today, and that is why we do this.
Oh, and no photo because I was too busy, and I also I did not want to ruin my camera in the rain. Maybe I can get a photo from a compatriot for the next blog post.

Fifth Annual Mwanza Garage Sale

This happy robust group of African kids is the gang that will benefit from our Annual Mwanza Garage Sale tomorrow. Above, is a very recent photo of the kids with their new mattresses. It is this kind of thing we are providing for them, besides food, shelter, clothing, and education. It is a joy to see these kids in the photo, knowing that we had a small part in their well being, and indeed in their very survival.

By 'we', I mean all those who are donating time, energy, money, and items to sell. There is a group of supporters in Kelowna as well as here, and we all do what we can to assure that this project is on going and successful. If you have time and inclination to purchase a treasure or give a donation, swing by Mouat Drive between 8 am and 3 pm on Saturday. The kids in the photo would be forever grateful.

Leaky Vase

Imagine inheriting an old house from a relative and having to clean out years of accumulated junk. If you came across this leaky vase would you relegate it to the Garage Sale heap, or would you find a place on your mantle for it. It probably would not go with your decor as those colours are not 'in' right now.  The English couple who did find it under the above circumstances must have known they were on to something because it eventually ended up at an auction where it fetched ..... not the estimated value of  $2 million, but CDN$84 million!

I think I will head out to the thrift stores this afternoon and see if I can find something similar. Who knows? But I am not paying any more that $3 for it.

Fourth Annual GS

It was Friday evening and our carport was full. We had not even begun to haul all our accumulated items out of our basement. Ken (red jacket) was worried we might not have enough 'stuff' to sell. We ended up hauling two full pick-up loads to the MCC in Mission after having raised a record $3300.00 selling our little treasures and accepting some very generous donations from some individuals.

Of course, it was our fourth annual Mwanza Orphanage fund raiser garage sale. The weather was good most of the time and nobody was complaining about the heat. There was none. Last year we had more big items. This year it was mostly $1 to $5 items. There was a very steady stream of customers for the duration of the sale and because we had plenty of help this year, everyone was looked after very well. We were told that coffee and pastries would go over big. They did not sell that well but the help really enjoyed them. We had a few showers and quickly covered anything that should not get wet. The weather forecast which had looked so hopeful, was wrong. But, overall, it was a great day. It was a lot of work and at the end of the day it is a good kind of tired when you know you helped raise the money to repair a few flood damaged houses.

Busylizzy and I were up at 6 am and good thing. Here you see what the scene was at that time. I had the vehicles jambed up against the merchandise for security. The minute I backed them out and parked at the neighbours, the customers came. Eight hours later, the driveway and carport were clean and empty. What you see here is not even all of what we had donated. At least 4 more people came with large amounts of donated items and I brought some of the more valuable items out of my basement. If you missed it and want to learn more or make a donation, here is where to go.
http://www.mwanzaproject.com/

Lending a Hand

As some of you may know, I was very conflicted this long weekend. Last year at this time, we hosted a successful garage sale whose purpose was to raise funds for an orphanage in Tanzania, Africa. I so looked forward to repeating that rewarding experience this spring, but last October our extended family planned a big work weekend for our lake property in the Okanagan. I was put in charge of that project and when it was determined that the best weekend for the garage sale was the same date as the 'work bee', I had no choice but to meet the family obligation and leave the garage sale in the capable hands of others. Good thing I did. They did so much better without me! The Mwanza Orphanage has grown from 10 to 50 boys, just this year, who have been rescued form abuse and oppressive poverty. Thanks to all who participated in both big and small ways. May God bless you all.