Fairfield Gonzales Community-Wide Yard Sale Info
A Yard Sale/Donation/Recycle Event!
Saturday, May 23rd (9am - 1pm)
It’s time to clean out your basement, closets and garage, and above all BENEFIT YOUR
COMMUNITY. Our second FGCA Community-Wide Yard Sale/Donation/Recycle event will
take place on May 23rd. Individuals or "clusters" of neighbours are encouraged to set up yard
sales.
The Salvation Army will be on hand to accept drop-off donations and, for registered
participants, will pick-up unsold items curbside after the sale ends.
The sale coincides with the regular monthly recycling of bottles, plastics, batteries and
electronics by Pacific Mobile Depots at St. Matthias Church.
The Junk Box is partnering with us to dispose of trash, after the event, offering a discount off
their usual fee.
Publicity
You can help the success of the event by participating and also by putting up posters, giving
out handbills, and generally getting the word out around the neighbourhood and city.
Posters/handbills are available at the FGCA office (Fairfield and Moss).
Yard Sales
Yard Sales may be more effective if organized in "clusters" of neighbours. It’s more fun (and
makes a bigger sale impact for buyers!) to work together. Yard Sales will run between 9am
and 1pm.
Three ways to participate:
• find & join a neighbourhood cluster using the online map
• create your own cluster with neighbours on your street
• rent a table at St. Matthias Church (see info below)
TO REGISTER your cluster (or yourself) contact the FGCA office - phone: 250-382-4604
email: [email protected]
Signage:
Pick up your Yard Sale Signs and information from the FGCA office (Fairfield & Moss)
Feel free to make up your own signs. Don’t forget to place them at street corners!
Please return signs after the event. We’ll use them again next year.
Registration:
Registration entitles you to the following:
• a Yard Sale Sign & info package,
• promotion throughout the city
• inclusion in the online map so buyers can find you
• free curb-side pick-up by the Salvation Army after the event of any donations
• a reduction of $20 off a trash pickup of $90 or more from the Junk Box
Online Maps
A Google Map, listing registered Yard Sale “clusters” and individuals, will be available online.
It’s helpful to print some copies for buyers attending your Yard Sale!
Renting a table at St. Matthias:
Eighteen (18) tables are available at St. Matthias Church (another “neighbourhood cluster”).
• To reserve your table, call Christine at 250-598-2833.
• $5 donation for table rental goes to Threshold Housing Society to support life skills training
for youth. This donation must be made at the church office by Friday, the 22nd to hold your
table
• Inside tables - 6 available (for smaller items) Outside tables - 12 available (for larger items,
yard equipment, etc.) - all tables are 2.5’ X 6’.
• Outside tables will be available in a large, grassed and fenced area. You can bring your own
tent/canopy, if you have one, for outside tables. There is nearby space for drop-offs. Set up is
between 8am and 9am on Saturday, the 23rd.
• Parking: Sellers are requested to park in the neighbourhood after unloading so the limited
parking spaces onsite can be used for buyers and those dropping off donations/recycling.
Renting a table at Fairfield United Church:
• Call 250-384-2425 to rent a table at Fairfield United Church, 1303 Fairfield Rd.
Donations
Our Donation Partner (the Salvation Army) will again provide a truck for drop-offs of donated
items at St. Matthias Church (corner of Richmond and Richardson) from 9am to 1pm. They
accept everything except mattresses, futons, large appliances. Clothing and soft items are
better bagged. Other items can be boxed, or if furniture, left as is. Last year's donations
totalled 4269 lbs.
Pickups start at 2pm for registered participants.
The Salvation Army will also make curb-side pick-ups at participating clusters! The truck will
start making the rounds of REGISTERED clusters around 2pm. Leave items you wish to
donate on the curb with a sign. Please be ready for them! This is an added bonus for
registered yard sale participants and means you can still get rid of whatever hasn’t sold. Don’t
be a HOARDER - let it go! And it’s going to a great cause.
Here is just one of the many stories of the good work of the Salvation Army - as told by a Thrift
Store Manager:
"I have had many humbling experiences with the Salvation Army in past years. This is the one
that still affects me today. While managing the thrift store on Johnson street, I have a
gentleman approach slowly and with his head down. He simply said I have a job interview
today for a kitchen job, this is not appropriate. He was wearing a worn out t-shirt and had a
frayed and dirty ball cap on. As we do so often I simply said lets see what we can find for you,
we want you to get this job. I helped him find an appropriate shirt (he didn't want a tie) and a
clean generic ball cap. He pulled out a handful of change and I refused. I simply wished him
good luck and all the best in his job interview. I watched the weight of the world come of this
mans shoulders, which deeply affected me. I went about my day and the couple weeks
following not giving this man a whole lot of thought, as I see so many people everyday who
need a helping hand. Several weeks later, I was incredibly surprised when he came looking for
me. With a larger than life smile on his face, he told me he had gotten the job. He wanted to
pay for his shirt and hat. I told him there was no need - that helping people is what we do. I
asked him to help someone in the future the way we had helped him. He came back a month
or so later and dropped of a small bag of donations and bought himself a new bed. He had a
new lease on life and was building a future. This man, whom I do not know, not even his name,
has profoundly changed me as an individual and as a parent. I teach my children to be giving
and generous because it makes us feel good. This is just one of many examples for our good
works at work. We love what we do."
Another story of how your donations to the Salvation Army benefit our community - by Ceri
Williams
When Kindness really is contagious & good acts can make a difference
"It was a cold dark winter day when the middle-aged homeless man appeared barefoot in our
shop entrance in the pouring rain. The tall, thin frail man could not move nor feel his feet
anymore and had walked more than a couple of miles without shoes from Victoria town centre
to the Salvation Army clothing store, Hillside. A group of drunks had peed on him that morning
and he had been living on the streets for days. “We found little else out about him other than
that he was unable to walk any more,” said store manager, Leslie.
“He needed our help. His body was shutting down. We got him inside the shop and over the
course of two hours managed to deck him out with water resistant rain jacket, socks and
shoes. By the time he left he had warmed up and was so happy he even gave me a hug.”
The gift of kindness is just one of many that the store manager deals with on a daily basis. “At
least one good deed happens a day in here. Kindness seems to be contagious and a wave of
generosity spills out into the wider world. Every day a stranger helps a stranger in here.”
One of the many generous customers in the store recently brought in his four-year-old
daughter. He gave her the choice of either buying a toy for herself or donating five dollars to
charity. “She chose to give her own gift away to help other kids less fortunate at Christmas,”
said Leslie. “It is inspiring as we have so many customers willing to help other customers out.
People say I need this outfit for a job interview and other customers have stepped in and paid
the bill.”
Recycling - 9am -11am
St. Matthias Church provides space for the FGCA’s monthly recycling depot. In addition to a
bottle drive (donations go to support Threshold Housing’s life skills training program for youth),
you can dispose of hard and soft plastic, Styrofoam, foil products, automotive batteries, used
electronics. (For accepted items and rates see http://pmdrecycling.com/mobile-depotrates/). Modest charge for drop offs. There is also a recycling depot at the Red Cross
(Quadra & Fairfield) from 10am-12pm.
Trash
Our “Trash" Partner is The Junk Box who offers a reasonable fee for responsibly disposing of
stuff. They will come around (Monday to Friday) to pick up what’s left after your yard sale. Yard
Sale participants get $20 off a pickup of $90 or more! Call them after the event for more
information and to arrange for pick-up and proper disposal of your trash.
The Junk Box - phone: 250-658-3944 or www.theJunkBox.ca