Another garage sale is in the books! We raised more than $2000 this year for the Arthritis Foundation, the AOII Foundation, Children's Research, our chapter scholarship, local collegiate chapters, and other chapter projects. We couldn't have done this without the selfless effort of our garage sale leader, Karen F., and her amazing family! Thank you to all of the sisters who donated items, tables, tents, clothing racks, set-up, priced, advertised, sold, brought snacks, cleaned up, and numerous other tasks. This was a huge chapter effort, and we are extremely grateful to all of our members who helped.
Yvonne, Natalie R., Karen, Judy S., and Kathy. We started collecting items and organizing a week before the sale. Karen blocked out an entire Saturday for sisters to bring items and start pricing.
Karen(middle) and our 50-year Nu Iota sisters: Judy S., Patti, Kathy, and Jan
Just getting started....
It's Friday morning, we've donned our red alumnae chapter t-shirts, and we're ready to sell! Friday was a crazy-busy day. We've never seen it that busy before. It could have been from the online advertising Karen did in local garage sale sites. This year we raised a few of our prices a tiny bit and didn't bargain too much on the first day. We made $1,200 on Friday alone!
Karen did a phenomenal job keeping us organized and focused. She sold some of our nicer items online. She is a wonderful hostess, and we've enjoyed getting to know her family who graciously lets us take over their home : )
Vicky started us on our garage sale run several years ago when she joined our alumnae chapter. We started small, and our sale has grown every year! We use a color-coded sticker pricing system that works very well for us.
Patti and Chris M. Patti is a retired Spanish teacher. Her skills come in extremely handy throughout our sale as we work with customers.
Fran and Suzette
Fran, Patti, Diane, and Kathy showing off some of our elegant dresses and a cashmere sweater.
Kathy and Fran enjoying a much-deserved break in the shade!
The Sunday Crew: Sue (from Chicago South), Vicky, Julie, Natalie R., Chris M., Karen F., Lori, Patti, and Dina. On Sunday EVERYTHING is $0.25, and we get rid of as much as we can. Customers come from far away to take advantage of this deal. Every year we get customers who purchase clothing and shoes to send overseas.
Do you see our shrunken head mascot enjoying the breeze? She came from Suzette's parents' basement years ago, and we just couldn't let her go. She's not for sale : )
Here's a close-up.
Running our garage sale is a huge undertaking....for the hostess as well as for our members. It takes a lot of time to collect items, set-up, and sell, but we have a lot of fun doing it together. We get quality sisterhood time while also doing something wonderful for our community. In addition to offering fabulous deals, we donate leftover items to local charities. It's a win-win all-around!
