We made great strides in our fundraising this last week!  For the past three months, I have been collecting donations from friends and neighbors so that there would be a nice variety in the charity rummage sale I hosted last week.  For the past three weeks I have been setting up tables, merchandising and pricing items to sell.  Thanks to the generosity of our long list of donors, and those that helped me along the way, those donations resulted in $3,682 worth of sales ($1824 during the three-day rummage and $1858 through eBay, Facebook and Craigslist ahead of time) and a doubling of the number shown on the progress meter for this year’s project!

While there were literally dozens of people that helped in one way or another, I’d like to single out Janene Kluever of Home Clean Out Crew for the extremely high number of donated items, and my mom, Rita Dailey, for helping me before, during and after the rummage.  She inspired and motivated me to have the sale in the first place.

While our results were impressive, the weather during the rummage sale was not!  It rained every day.  We bought tarps to cover tables that spilled out onto the driveway and my yard.  People drove by in their cars instead of stopping. I have lots left in my garage, including items that were not displayed well — either at the bottom of a pile or stored under a table.

I’ve decided to rest for a few weeks and have *another* sale May 18-20.  This will give me the opportunity to make an initial trip to St. Vincent de Paul’s to donate some of the items that did not sell and to re-merchandise other items along with the new donations I’ve taken in recently.  For this 2nd sale, I am going to try and limit my display to the 13 tables that are already in my garage: this allows me to save set-up and tear-down time on a daily basis and provides dry cover in the event of more rain!

That “rest” I mentioned is greatly needed and well-deserved.  As if months of prep and weeks of sun-up to sun-down work on the rummage were not enough, the Monday following the rummage (two days ago) we worked at the Oconomowoc Culver’s at a Fundraiser Night on our behalf.  In exchange for some basic restaurant help (delivering trays to the dining room, orders to the drive-thru waiting line, and wiping down tables) the owners of the Oconomowoc Culver’s restaurant agreed to donate 10% of all their business from 4-8pm that evening.  Many of our local supporters came to the restaurant that evening, and we enjoyed playing our part, especially Sarah, my youngest, age 9!  She had been telling me for weeks ahead of the event that it was her dream to waitress at Culver’s.  The shift manager that evening was gracious enough to let her don an apron and work alongside us.  At the end of the evening, her tune had changed a bit.  However, her attitude was good and she was tickled pink when her best friend showed up and got to see her doing her “job” like a big kid.  It was shortly later that she took off her apron and asked if she could take a break and sit with Addie.  Ha!

We’re not the only ones that have been busy, however!

If you recall, some local girl scouts are helping us with sewing tablet covers for the tablets that we are providing to the elementary school.  I shared some photos from their early success in my last blog post.  But, that is not the extent of their assistance.  They were also busy last week learning some new skills thanks to their troop co-leader and her passion for woodworking.  They are making bookends for use with the books and the library bookcases!

Meanwhile, in Guatemala, the 2nd library bookcase was finished and both were delivered to the school in Canton Rio Camanibal!  How exciting it was to see photos of the teachers, parents and students working together to place the new library furniture at the school.  Only three more months to wait and we will be able to travel to Guatemala and deliver all the Spanish books we have collected!

I hope you enjoy seeing these photos of the completed bookcases.  If you receive even a fraction of my joy at seeing them, you will know how excited I am to visit the school this August, enjoy fellowship with the students and teachers and parent council, and stock those shelves!