Help Haiti Charity Garage Sale

by Lindsay Reilly

“We here in Louisiana know what it is like to have our lives turned upside down and to be without basic necessities due to a natural disaster. The people of Haiti need our assistance now more than ever,” said local activist Lindsay Reilly.

A group of local women decided to take action in order to provide assistance to those affected by the recent earthquake in Haiti. “One night at dinner, we were sitting around discussing the earthquake, and our hearts were just hurting for the people of Haiti,” said Jennifer Robinson. “We felt like we just had to do something, no matter how small, to raise as much money as we could to donate for relief.”

Originally the women wanted to put care packages together to send to Haiti. “After doing some research, we discovered that it wasn’t going to be possible to get the packages to the people who needed them most,” said Robinson. Once the group learned that monetary donations are providing the most assistance, they decided to organize a multi-family yard sale to raise money. All of the profits from the multi-family yard sale will be donated to charity for Haiti relief aid.

“We are asking for donations of gently used goods to be sold at the yard sale. The more people that donate items, the more money we can raise for those devastated by the earthquake,” said Danelle Bartlett, an event organizer. “We’re hoping for a kind of explosion of exposure about the event. We’re sending e-mails and will be placing flyers wherever we can. If each person that hears about this tells someone else and so on, there’s no telling how many items we’ll be able to collect to sell.”

In addition to gently used items, monetary donations will also be accepted. Event organizers stress that any and all help is welcome and greatly appreciated. “We will work with whoever has donations. We will meet you to pick up your donation and we will have a few drop off locations,” said Reilly. For those who cannot make physical or monetary donations the group welcomes volunteers to sort, organize and price items, make posters to advertise the sale and to set up for the sale.

After sending out only a few emails to friends and coworkers, and creating a page on www.facebook.com for the event, the group has received multiple calls from people who are willing to help. “The response has been really positive. We hope once the word gets out, the turnout at the yard sale will be great. We still need donations of goods to sell, but we are off to a great start!” Reilly said. “It is amazing to see how many people want to help. It’s heart warming. We are so blessed here and it is so rewarding to be able to help others truly in need.”

“We hope the funds we raise will help provide the simple yet critical supplies needed most in Haiti right now,” said Sherri Roach, another event organizer.  “The Gulf Coast has been blessed with an outpouring of support during our times of need after hurricanes.  This is an excellent opportunity to pay that assistance forward.”

If you have items to donate, would like to make a monetary donation or volunteer your time, please contact the event organizers at houmahelpforhaiti@gmail.com. Donations will be accepted until March 1, 2010. Search “Help Haiti Charity Yard Sale” on facebook.com to become a fan and to learn more.


Multi-Family Yard Sale
Saturday March 6
7 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Bayou Black Recreation Gym
3688 Southdown Mandalay Road, Houma