As
you know, all the money we raise through the yard sale goes to fund our Outreach
progarms. Your Outreach Committee reports on their use of those donations every
year.
Once
the yard sale is over and the outreach money has been counted, what happens to
everything that is left over? Does it get thrown out or go to
waste?
No,
your donations continue to make a positive impact in our community. We sell as
many leftover items as we can to various dealers or estate sale shops. The
additional money we raise gets added to our outreach
funds.
In
addition, the following donations are made:
- Bicycles are donated to Mr.
Lewis Days "Mr. Bike" on Fay Street in Durham. Mr Days is in his late 70's and
lives on Social Security. Every year Mr. Days refurbishes hundred of bikes and
donates them at Christmas to underpriviledged children here in Durham. His bike
ministry has been featured on "Good Morning America".
- Our
Mission team selects age-appropriate books, toys and some suitcases to take to
Belize. The books go into Holy Cross Anglican School's library. The toys are
used for prizes in the Valentine's Day fund raiser run by the school each year.
The suitcases are used to carry our donated supplies to Belize and then the
suitcases are resold by the school to raise funds. Funds raised by these sales
are often used to provide the students with lunch, the only nutritious meal they
will have that day. Did you know that the resident's of San Mateo sometimes use
our suitcases as baby beds?
- Books
are donated to the Durham Public Library. They resell the books to raise funds
for various library programs and also ship some books to areas of the
country/world that need reading materials.
- The
Vets from Maple Court select household items to furnish their apartments. These
veterans, in turn, must perform community services in return for their ability
to reside in Maple Court.
- The
remaining items are donated to area thrift stores. The past few years they have
gone to the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army sells these items to raise funds
for its work. For example, during this year's tornadoes and hurricanes, the
Salvation Army donated free clothing and household goods to the hundreds of
families that had lost or damaged homes. They also ran feeding programs for the
thousands of people who were impacted by the storms.
So
you may think of your donations as simply something that helps St. Luke's. But
your items have a much more far reaching impact.
Thanks to all of you that
have made this year's Yard Sale one of our best ever. Your donations of
Treasure, Time and Talent have made a difference in Durham and beyond. ----
Bob and Ginny
