Katie Ellington/Mount Vernon News
Erika Pontillo, left, and Jill Zheng, right, shop at the Kenyon Rummage Sale Thursday morning. Local rummage sales raise funds for their communities while giving consumer goods that might otherwise end up in a landfill a second chance at life.
GAMBIER — Erika Pontillo strolled through the makeshift aisles at the Gambier Community Center, where an otherwise ordinary gymnasium had been transformed into a one-stop shop for deals on gently used clothes, office supplies and dorm furniture.
The annual Kenyon Rummage Sale was in full swing this week, as students and community members sorted through heaps of T-shirts, racks of clothing, rows of appliances and stacks of quirky, mismatched kitchenware.
Pontillo carried a bulletin board and a desk lamp. Her friend Jill Zheng walked beside her, cradling a handful of three ring binders.
“I think that it’s cool because we are not wasting the stuff we don’t use anymore and students now can get things they need for a lower price,” said Pontillo. “If it’s here, you know you’ll need it, because students needed it.”
The sale is a big hit with students, especially international students and freshman, who get first pick of the items at the shop.
“It’s a good resource for students, especially incoming freshman who don’t know what they should buy, what’s going to be useful,” said Kíra Lancz, who managed the sale for Kenyon’s Office of Green Initiatives.
Most of the items for the sale came from donation bins placed around the campus at the end of last school year. According to Lancz, the items donated by Kenyon students and the community was enough to fill a semi truck trailer and a storage unit.
“I think it’s a really great thing because we’re recycling these items that if we didn’t would end up in a landfill,” said Magic McBride, a volunteer cashier at the sale.
Secondhand shopping has been championed by eco-activists and thrifty spenders alike as a way to reduce waste and save money. But many of the rummage sales in and around Mount Vernon have an even greater benefit — investment in local non-profits.
After the sale, the student workers will donate or recycle as much of the leftover merchandise as possible. Profits from the sale will be donated to a local charity. In the past, the funds have gone to Interchurch Social Services, HopeNow Furniture Bank and New Directions Shelter.
It’s not the only rummage sale benefiting the community. Faith Lutheran Church in Mount Vernon has raised more than $55,000 in the last two decades from rummage sales alone, according to Pastor Mark Wildermuth. This year’s July sale brought in $5,112, all of which was donated to New Directions.
First Baptist Church of Mount Vernon launched its rummage sale three years ago as its primary fundraiser for local service initiatives.
“We formed an outreach committee at our church looking to help whoever we could help in our community,” said sale organizer Barb Snow. “We have a small budget to work with for outreach, but this rummage sale gives us more to work with for the needs in our community.”
The committee meets once a month to determine how best to disperse its funds. In the past, funds have been donated to organizations including feedtheVERN, Interchurch Social Services of Knox County, Knox Starting Point, TouchPointe and Stockings for Seniors.
“It’s a blessing to be able to have some money to help people out with,” said Snow. “I think that people need to know that we care about their needs, not only their spiritual needs but their physical needs.”
While summer is prime time for rummage sales, bargain hunters still have something to look forward to this fall. Both First Presbyterian Church and Gay Street United Methodist Church will be holding rummage sales the first week of October.
“The last couple years it was right after Labor Day,” said Pastor Karen Oehl. “We changed the date so it would be at the same time as the Presbyterian Church because then it’s kind of like a neighborhood sale.”
First Presbyterian Church will be hosting its rummage sale Oct. 1- 4 and Gay Street Methodist will be hosting its rummage sale Oct. 3-4.
“What I always enjoy most is talking to people,” said Oehl. “It’s fun to see the community people that come in. It’s just a way of talking to our neighbors.”
The Kenyon Rummage Sale will continue today until 6 p.m. at the Gambier Community Center. The last two hours of the sale will be a bag sale, where customers can fill a grocery bag with desired items at $5 a bag.
