AUSTRALIA—On February 16, the Sydney congregation held its most successful garage sale fundraiser to date, raising a total of us$1,908. Approximately 40 members lent their support and sales expertise to help boost sales and morale.

The volunteers held their “mega garage sale” at the home of the Haddad family, which is located in a well-trafficked area.

“The location was brilliant because we get the traffic coming from the main city,” Paula Haddad said. She also credited the 10 yard sale signs made by member Roy Romanos posted around their suburb in Wollongong. “They are outstanding,” she said. “We had a lot of comments saying that the signs brought them in.”

From 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., approximately 200 customers came to the sale, buying everything from baby clothes to a set of tables and chairs.

The forecast for the weekend of the garage sale was rain, not unlike the previous years. “It worked out to be a really successful fundraiser,” Dale Abblitt said. “Even though it was raining, it didn’t really dampen the customers too much; they kept coming.”

Along with a handful of other volunteers, Abblitt showed up at the Haddads’ residence at 5 a.m. to set up. The group pitched gazebos and set up tables for the hundreds of items donated by members and the local community.

Earlier in the month, Tony Haddad scoured his local community businesses for yard sale donations. Burns Surfwear donated surfboards, snowboards and snowshoes, which equated to about $560 in sales. These items were set up on the roadside to attract and draw in the crowd. All the items sold except for a few pairs of snowshoes.

At the past four garage sales, the Sydney members raised about $1,100 per year. The members’ goal was to exceed the totals from the previous years, which they did by about $800. Haddad said, “We’re planning next year’s already.”