Aug 17, 2007 - 04:03:47 CDT
The annual free rummage sale at Bismarck's Evangel Assembly of God has grown to the point where nearly the entire church, minus the sanctuary, was filled up by Thursday.Getting ready for Saturday's event, volunteers have sorted, folded and stacked the donations that fill the church's gathering rooms and hallway, even its bus garage.
The rummage sale, started four years ago as a way to offer practical help to people with needs, has spread beyond church members. Community members are now contributing goods to the sale as well, said Leslie Suchy, a staff member at Evangel.
People who need to stretch a dollar can come and shop for free, she said.
It's first-come, first-served, said Theresa Stockert, one of the original organizers of the event four years ago. Last year, people came early and brought breakfast to eat while they waited to get in, she said.
This year's sale runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the church at 3225 Harvest Lane in north Bismarck. This is the biggest year for donations so far, Suchy said.
Racks and tables of clothes for all ages, bedding, gift and Christmas items, high chairs and more are organized throughout the church proper. Bigger items - couches, chairs, bookcases, TV stands, dressers, washers, dryers and other appliances - were placed in the bus garage, she said. Other bigger items include TVs and VCRs, computers, laser printers, a fax and a pair of sewing machines, she said.
The volunteers got some help from the men and women of Teen Challenge, a Mandan-based drug and alcohol treatment program. Since the Teen Challenge helpers won't be able to be there on Saturday, they were allowed to shop for themselves and their children when they finished, Stockert said.
When 9 a.m. arrives on Saturday, the volunteer crew will be ready, Stockert said. Each person will start out with three bags when they come in, courtesy of Cash Wise Foods, but people can take as many as they need, she said.
Anybody with three children, such as Stockert has, knows that $20 doesn't go far, she said. That's what prompted the original group to ask the church if they could do an event like this, she said.
"There's a whole hurting community out there," she said.
"I've been in those shoes before," Stockert said. "We've all been in those shoes before. Whatever shoes they're walking in, somebody in this church has been there."
Organizing the rummage sale is a yearlong process, Suchy said. Two months beforehand, volunteers are recruited, and for the two weeks previous, they work all day, every day, she said.
Goods are organized and tidy, Stockert said. "We don't ask people to dig. We value them and we want to give them our best."
Damaged or broken items are discarded, and leftover goods are packed and further donated - last year they went to Romania and to Fort Yates.
A place is set aside for a freewill offering if people desire, Suchy said, but everything is free.
The goal of all the effort is "let's really take care of people," she said
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