We have so many stories to tell about how the Lord is using Next Step to bless our students and our families and we tell them all the time! But, I forget to type them, too!
One of the recent stories is how we had was an impromptu yard sale. Some family friends called me and asked if they could donate some new and like items to our program to sell to make money. They suggested that we post things on Facebook marketplace and other sites to raise money. I prayed about it and consulted the board about it and after looking at the incredible number of items that they wanted to donate, we decided to have a yard sale instead!
We picked a Friday and Saturday (in between our farmers market Saturdays) and told a bunch of people and posted it in a bunch of places and the customers showed up! Three of our board members put in so much time to get everything set up and ready to sell and also helped with clean up! It was a wonderful team effort and gave us time for deep and meaningful conversations!
Pricing the items for a garage sale is an overwhelming task and quite subjective, so we decided to let our customers price the items. We told everyone who came that it was a donation only yard sale which also gave us the opportunity to share our ministry with them.
As many of you know, yard sales can be a lot of work with very little to show for it, but God sent us lots of customers and some were very generous! We brought in over $1700 in just two days! One of the neatest blessings was that we were able to give hope to families who came who have children with autism!
One other blessing was that we were able to donate the leftover items to non-profits who had specific needs :) We donated maternity clothes to ALC, shoes to Water Step, etc. It was all around a win-win-win!