Raising Funds

Last Friday and Saturday, I worked a garage sale with Debbie Douglas. We had quite a number of items that were donated. We really had a great time. I wasn't aware how much really goes into a garage sale... Had an early start; we drove around stapling signs on telephone poles of some of the major streets in the area. The signs are a huge deal. most of the people that came to the sale were there just because of the signs.. We put an add in Craigslist, and in The Oregonian but the signs were the main draw. If any of you ever do garage sales, here is a tip on the signs. Big yellow neon paper that says "GARAGE SALE" then a separate neon yellow paper with an arrow that you can staple in any direction. Make a couple sets of those and a few extra arrows and you should do great.. Everyone said "Oh we loved the signs! They were so easy to follow." Another big factor is location. Obviously someone out in the country is going to have a harder time than someone in the heart of Portland's residential neighborhoods. It took a good 2 hours to setup the first time, and around a half hour to setup the second. We sold enough on the first day that we could mostly just move set tables in and out of the Garage. You do, however, always manage to get the early birds that come before everything is out. and that happened both days. They would see the signs, and just start coming. There is definitely a science about the whole thing. Everyone at garage sales likes to barter, so we would just tell them upfront why we were having the sale, and some people decided to make the purchase, and donate additional money for our cause. I had a great time and we managed to make a decent chunk of cash to help pay for plane tickets.  It was a success.