On Saturday, May 4th, we hosted another community charity yard sale at our new home in Maryland. We had a bunch of leftover donations from our last sale in San Diego, and couldn't wait to get rid of them and raise more money for our adoption! We told our new friends in the area about the sale and that we would be accepting donations. Once again we received a whole bunch. People are so generous! I can't believe how much stuff we accumulated for the sale. As you can see below, our garage was just a little packed!
On Friday, I made a bunch of signs and went through the neighborhood setting them up. I also hung one of our big banners at the entrance of our community.
We were lent 8 tables from church, which was such a blessing. I don't know what we would have done with everything if we didn't have tables to set it all on! We began setting up on Friday night, which was quite the feat. Some people were asking why we were setting up the night before, but if this sale went anything like the last one, we wouldn't end up getting everything out and priced if we waited until the morning to start. We had our neighbors Rachel and James come over and help out. I was very grateful because my body was aching! I definitely was pushing myself a lot harder than I should have been considering I am nearly in my third trimester of pregnancy!
Saturday morning started for Keiffer and me at 5:00am. It was still dark outside, and a little damp, but we were able to get more more things set out. Even by 7:00am, working non-stop, we still hadn't gotten everythign out and priced! We still spent nearly the entire sale until 12:30, getting things out of boxes!
Our neighbor lent us a tent to put up and we were able to hang our sign. It's fun to have people ask us questions about our adoption efforts, and be directed to learn more on our website. It's also nice for people to be reminded that they are contributing to a good cause.
The day started out pretty chilly and overcast. I was just grateful it wasn't raining. The sun did come out the last few hours, which really heated things up fast. I swear, the sun here in Maryland is really hot when it comes out!
We were donated a lot of really great items, including a bicycle trailer, tricycle, microsuede chair, and a really nice car seat. Of course there were the usual donations of clothes, toys, books, and movies as well. All in all it was enough for us to start our very own thrift store!
At the end of the day we made $379! This sale was SO different from the one in San Diego where all of the big stuff and kid's items went first and then the small stuff. The only large items sold were the bike trailer, a golf bag and a car seat. Everyone else was more interested in the $.25 clothes and toys! Weird. In San Diego we had all the Mexicans coming form across the border who wanted all the kid's stuff and furniture to bring back to their families. They were the majority of our customers and bought a ton of items, especially early in the morning. Here in Maryland, I guess there are just a lot of people looking for discounted clothes. An interesting difference in demographic needs.
In just a day past the sale, we have already had someone claim a $40 toy table. All of the larger items, I will be selling on craigslist, and the smaller items (besides baby clothes), I will be taking to the thrift store. Hopefully we can earn a few more hundred dollars from the craigslist sales! I always have good luck with that :)
Thank you to everyone who donated and all those who came and purchased items. We appreciate you all so much and love seeing our adoption fund grow! We now have $8,638 saved!
