The “Give Us Your Stuff” (GUYS) club teamed up with the SGA for the second annual yard sale Sunday, raising $2,600 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The event transformed the usually empty WAUD into a busy shopping area, with people milling through tables full of games, clothing and other donated goods.
All items sold were donated by members of the community and ranged from used books for 25 cents to skis for $20. People from all around Bethesda, even those who had no connection to Whitman, could purchase t-shirts, CDs, video games and even a wreath 10 times larger than normal size.
“It’s really incredible. I didn’t know really what to expect, because I didn’t come last year, but it’s amazing,” junior Kate Currie said. “There are hundreds of books and tons of musical equipment, and tons of clothes.”
One Whitman parent who came to support LLS was especially impressed by the involvement of the community.
“We lost our child, Tim King, to cancer, so as part of the LLS fundraising purposes, we’re just really glad to be a part of it,” Suzanne King said.
However LLS isn’t the only organization that benefits from the yard sale; all unsold items were picked up by the Vietnam Veterans for their use.
While many people showed up to support LLS, others were there to happily give away random items from their house.
“I say thank you to people for dropping of their donations and they say ‘No, thank you,’” teacher sponsor Nancy Mornini said.
Seniors Julia Greenberg and Amanda Azmi planned and ran the event as part of their club “Give Us Your Stuff.”
“Junior year I had the idea of starting a charity club because this community has the amazing potential to give back to the less fortunate, and I wanted to experience it first hand,” Azmi said.
As the day progressed, Greenberg noticed the transformation from “junk” to “treasure” that each item went through.
“In the morning from eight to 11 you see everyone bringing their stuff in, and then an hour later, you see everyone taking it all out,” she said. “No one wants it and then everyone wants it.”
The event seemed to run flawlessly, which came from extensive preparation in the weeks leading up to it.
“It’s all about communication,” Mornini said. “It’s just been teamwork and it’s worked out really well.”
