Sunday, August 17, 2008

Yard Sale Success

Well, I'm happy to report that our yard sale this weekend was a success. For some experienced in holding yard sales, it may not have looked like a success. After all, we didn't have a lot to sell. It was only for one day. And the heat kept a lot of potential customers away. We know that other yard sales in the area also experienced a very slow day. Still OUR sale was successful for many reasons.

One reason it was successful was simply the fact that it was thought up, planned for, and completed. My daughter had come to me a few weeks ago asking if we could have a yard sale and send the money to Mariam, our sponsored child. I explained we couldn't do that but we could send the money to World Vision to help a needy family somewhere. With that, the plan was hatched. I'm proud of my daughter for coming up with the idea and even donating some of her toys to the sale.

Another reason I consider the sale successful is that my son jumped in whole-heartily. He helped his sister paint our giant banner proclaiming the fact that all proceeds from the sale was being donated to World Vision. During the sale, he became a real salesman. He greeted customers, showed them around the sale, suggested they buy a soda, and told them why we were having a sale. He was so cute and did a great job.

It was successful because we got to witness the generosity of a few great people. One elderly couple stopped by, bought nothing, but added $20 to our donation jar. Another couple bought a bunch of items and discreetly dropped a $50 bill in our donation jar. The visiting mother of one of our neighbors asked my daughter to tell her husband why we were having a yard sale and then told her husband to give her $10 to the cause. These people helped renew my faith in people in a neighborhood where this kind of faith in people is hard to come by. It also allowed my children to witness the generosity of other people. It was primarily because of these three couples, that we met our goal.

Finally, it was successful because we met our goals. We wanted to make enough to buy at least one goat ($75) and donate the remainder, if any, to World Vision's Maximum Impact Fund. We accomplished both of those and added some "hope to sexually exploited girls."

I'm happy to see generosity growing in my children. I hope this trend continues. I'll be looking for additional opportunities for them to practice giving in the future as well. I have one possibility in the works; I'm just waiting to hear if children are allowed in this particular opportunity to help others.

And one last thing...once the sale was over, I packed my van nearly full and took it all to Goodwill. My house is that much lighter.

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2 Comments:

Montserrat said...

Good for you for working on that goal and meeting it! Your children are definitely getting a wonderful lesson on being charitable and unselfish.

Kelly Curtis said...

This is such a great example of passing the torch. You're doing an awesome job of empowering your kids. I'm linking to you next week!