Fundraiser Follow-up

The charity garage sale that i mentioned in this post happened this Saturday. So we had a very busy weekend with Bode's ordeal and then helping out all day with the garage sale.

I was amazed at the turnout. When i got there just after 8am, the street was lined with cars and the two yards and driveways that things were set up on were packed with people. The weather couldn't have been better. Across the street in a neighbor's driveway, a young woman from our ward had organized a bake sale, Emily was selling discounted Mary Kay makeup and there was a Pampered Chef booth--proceeds from all going to the kids' fund!

We sold things like crazy and had no idea how much money, if any, we were making throughout the day. There were people there with the typical garage sale mentality--nickel and diming. And there were the people who paid more than the decided-on price to help the cause more. And there were people who simply donated money without buying a thing.

In the end, we made WELL over the goal. The bake sale alone made $600. Seriously. It is really incredible.

I have to say what a good experience it was for me to be involved in this. I spent hours over many days working alongside some pretty incredible women--sorting, pricing, organizing, talking, laughing; etc. It took a lot of effort from so many people to pull things together. I was amazed at the generosity of people around us. Strangers pulled up with their cars loaded with things to donate for us to sell--things they planned to sell in their own garage sales but decided to give to us. I got the opportunity to get to know some wonderful women in my church congregation much better. People from the community showed up to buy things because they saw our fliers that were sent out in the schoolkids' backpacks. So many people were genuinely interested in learning more about the kids they were helping. It was really nice to see everyone come together and feel like a part of a community!