Behind the Scenes at Better Homes & Gardens’ Clean Out for Kids Yard Sale
Posted by Amy Panos on Monday, August 22, 2011
Early one sunny Saturday this past June, I cracked my morning diet Coke extra early, kissed my sleeping kids, and jumped in my car for downtown Des Moines, Iowa, and Better Homes & Gardens’ massive Clean Out for Kids yard sale. And I wasn’t the only one. By the time I arrived, hundreds of people were already waiting in line, armed with shopping bags, rolling carts, and coffee.
What was the big draw? The chance to score some fabulous home furnishings at rock-bottom prices, and help put an end to childhood hunger in the process.
As an editor at Better Homes & Gardens, I can tell you we took the “clean out” part seriously. As soon as we knew we were going to host a sale, we started saving up furniture, accessories, and projects from photo shoots, stacking them up in spare cubicles. For weeks before the sale, teams of volunteers worked tirelessly to pull more sale items from storage, clean them up, and price them to move (I saw a sofa priced at $10!). The day before the sale, volunteers worked into the night to move all the merchandise to dozens of tables that had been set up in our parking garage.
The morning of the sale, as editor-in-chief Gayle Butler mingled with the crowd, shoppers eagerly snapped up the amazing deals on furniture, accessories, books, fabric, small appliances, Christmas decorations, and lots more. The best stuff was gone by 8:45. By 9:30, there was practically nothing left.
First in line that morning was one brave soul who arrived at 3:30 am, determined to snag the clawfoot bathtub pictured in the local newspaper’s story about the event. Did she get it? You bet she did. But she wasn’t the only one who scored. Everybody who came that day got something special: the knowledge that in some small way, they helped a child in need get access to the food that will help her grow big, strong, and smart.
In about 90 minutes that June morning, Better Homes & Gardens raised nearly $27,000 for Share our Strength. And that was definitely worth getting up early for.
You can host your own Clean Out for Kids yard sale by signing up at www.strength.org/cleanoutforkids.
August 22, 2011 | 0 comment(s) | Tags: better homes and gardens, clean out for kids
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