I took a little hiatus from writing from the middle of October until recently. Much needed. For so many reasons. I have spent the last week giving updates on highlights during the months of October, November, December, January, and February. The operative word is...highlights. There was so much more that happened behind the scenes. Lots of stuff.
One of the big happenings is that I stumbled on a Facebook group in our area that is dedicated to Free Stuff. As in gifting items that you no longer need. For free. Or, members posting "in search of" items that someone may have that they want to get rid of.
Although I joined this particular Facebook Group, I didn't pay attention to it. Until. A post from a young woman showed up on my news feed. Caught my attention. A single Mom to 3 young boys. Starting over with not much more than the clothes on their backs.
After many years of us helping people in need, I was skeptical. We have been burned more times than I care to admit. On top of that, after buying our house, we saw the true colors of some of our previous neighbors who called us "family" for many years. Needless to say, our faith in humans was a bit stifled.
However.
There was something about this young woman that broke through those protective barriers. Amid that time frame, I was also experiencing frustrations that were weighing heavy.
When we bought and moved into our house in February of 2020, we had a lot of stuff. In addition, the sellers left quite a few items behind. We didn't mind. Our original plan was to unpack, decorate, go through everything, and put items aside that we didn't want or need for a Summer yard sale. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic put a screeching halt to those plans.
Little by little, we stored items in our abundance of closets and in one of the rooms in our basement. We planned on having a big yard sale in the late Spring or early Summer of 2021.
At some point during late December of 2020, Lisa's schedule shifted at work. To second shift. Starting in January of 2021. After a couple of months of working that shift, we decided it would be for the best.
Because.
It provided stability.
Her previous mid-shift (after her promotion) of 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. was complicated. During this time, Lisa was responsible for covering first and second when those managers called out, took days off, or were on vacation. In a single week, there were times when Lisa worked all 3 shifts.
Although working the second shift provided schedule stability, it put a damper on us planning a big yard sale in the Spring or Summer of 2021.
If you're not familiar with hosting a yard sale, the best day to have one is Saturday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. With Lisa working the second shift, getting up early on Saturday (after working Friday second shift) was not an option.
Are you still with me?
After reading what this single Mom of 3 boys needed, and it sticking with me, I mentioned it to Lisa. We had a ton of items that this woman needed. I reached out to her. And. After several conversations, we put quite a bit of stuff together for her. Scheduled a delivery date.
I even baked homemade chocolate chip cookies for her boys.
After that, we made the final decision to post and gift all of the items that we would have put out in our yard sale.
Lisa had the week of my birthday off. That's when we used our second living room as ground zero. Most of the photos were taken in that room. It was a lot of work. Taking photos. Uploading. Posting the photos on the Buy Nothing site. Bringing everything outside on scheduled dates for pick up.
Throughout this time, we connected with a few cool humans. One is a beekeeper in training. She gifted us a quart of raw honey. The best honey we've ever had. Another great human gifted us a few dozen fresh chicken eggs and dozen duck eggs.
We were extremely grateful for these gifts.
Most importantly, throughout this time, we realized the need within our community for items ranging from clothes and housewares to collectibles and odds and ends was on the rise.
By the end of Lisa's vacation the week of my birthday, we gifted 90% of the items we were going to offer at our yard sale.
In the weeks to follow, as we went through the last of our totes in the basements and closets, we had a few more things to gift. We posted the items. They were claimed.
Sure...
We could have made a few hundred dollars with everything we gifted by hosting a yard sale or posting the items on the many local yard sale sites.
But.
At the end of the day, it was much more satisfying to gift them. To those humans who could use them.
Needful wares and wants.
Our closets are cleaned.
Our basement is decluttered.
We're not stressing about planning a yard sale this Spring or Summer.
It was a win all the way around.
No comments:
Post a Comment