As one of their fundraising events, the Oakdale Rescue Mission (ORM) hosted a three-day yard sale, from July 19 through July 21. The event was hosted at the new ORM house at the corner of Church and West G in Oakdale, with proceeds benefiting the home.
The yard sale stretched from the side yard and into the garage, then through the entire backyard and into the other side yard, with little room to spare. Items sold were ones that had been donated by the Oakdale community.
“We told them that the donations either go into the home or we sell them at the yard sale,” Pamela Kelly, the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of ORM shared. She estimated that around 50 people had contributed to the large sale, with an estimated 75 shoppers coming to peruse and purchase just on Thursday’s opening day alone.
Kelly reported that there had been various waves of buyers, with Friday even busier than Thursday’s crew. One hundred percent of the proceeds went toward ORM and its goals within the community.
Officials said they will consider hosting another event, though not right away.
“It takes a while to recuperate,” Kelly added, but she expressed that they were interested in doing something like it again in the future.
For now, their next mission is moving their meal time for the homeless from St. Matthias Anglican Church to the Oakdale Rescue Mission house. Though the buildings are a mere block away from each other, it’s still going to be quite a change.
“It’s kind of a big deal to move it,” Pastor Reese VanderVeen of ORM said, indicating they need to get the message out to all those that benefit from the meals.
ORM is always eager to accept volunteers, and more information regarding the project is available on oakdalerescuemission.org.