Rummage sale funds keep nonprofits goingRummage sale funds keep nonprofits going
Annual Minturn rummage sale help groups earn money, povides recycling outlet for used goods
By Nicole Frey
Daily Staff Writer
Photo: AE Rummage PU 8-20
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Organization Hours Money
Meet the Wilderness 1362 $10,500
Human Society 937 $7,500
Eagle Seniors 852 $6,500
Eagle County Charter Academy 718 $5,500
Vail Mountain Rescue 698 $6,500
Vail International Hockey 580 $4,640
Eagle River Watershed 564 $4,500
EVHS Band 545 $4,300
Rotary International (Edwards) 477 $3,800
Eagle County Historical Society 456 #3,600
EVAS 445 $3,500
Boy Scout #222 390 $3,100
Eagle Valley Children’s Choral 373 $3,000
Bravo Guild 347 $2,700
EVHS/Dance Team 333 $2,600
Eagle County Charter Academy 319 $2,500
EVMS/Band 315 $2,500
Delta Kappa Gamma 293 $2,300
Hospice 280 $2,200
Swift Eagle 278 $2,200
Red Ribbon 268 $2,100
Veterans of Foreign Wars 260 $2,100
BMHS/Speech 249 $2,000
The Resource Center 238 $1,900
EVHS/Project Graduation 227 $1,800
Red Canyon High School 215 $1,700
Cattlemen 214 $1,700
Minturn Seniors 198 $1,600
Children’s Garden 197 $1,600
BMHS/Boys Basketball 192 $1,500
McCoy Community Center 186 $1,500
Boy Scout #231 172 $1,300
Vail Community Chorale 165 $1,300
Peo 160 $1,300
Girl Scout #175 150 $1,200
Bald Eagle Wrestling 145 $1,200
Avalanche Volleyball Club 144 $1,000
Burns 4-H 123 $1,000
Vail Mountain School 9th Grade 123 $1,000
American Legion Aux. #150 116 $900
Shaw House 109 $900
EVHS/Girls Soccer 106 $900
Family Learning Center 92 $750
Gore Range Science School 92 $750
Girl Scout #296 86 $650
BMHS/Shakespeare 76 $600
EVHS/Nordic Team 76 $600
Betty Ford Garden 71 $550
Red Hill Elementary Special Ed 71 $550
SOS 68 $500
Ski Club Vail 61 $500
Think First 57 $450
BMHS/Ski Team 56 $450
Habitat For Humanity 43 $350
EVHS/Football Team 41 $350
Eagle Safe House 40 $350
Vail Valley Soccer 39 $300
Lightning Volleyball 31 $250
Girl Scout #148 30 $250
BMHS/Baseball 29 $225
Heuga Center 22 $175
AES Preschool 20 $150
Buddies 18 $150
EVHS/Volleyball 17 $150
Total Hours Worked 16,013 $127,340
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After three decades of running the rummage sale, the Eagle Valley Community Fund is looking for some young blood to head up the rummage sale in years to come, said Marv Lapin, the fund’s treasurer. If you’re interesting in becoming involved, contact Vi Brown at 476-5701.
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“This rummage sale has been around long before second-hand and thrift stores. It gives people an outlet to throw in their stuff to benefit these organizations. It’s a very old tradition here of giving back within the community itself.”
Mary Claire Van Dyke of the Eagle River Watershed Council, beneficiary of the rummage sale.
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MINTURN ” After investing 16,013 hours of hard work, 69 nonprofit organizations recently collected their share of the earnings from the Eagle Valley Community Fund annual rummage sale.
The community fund doled out $127,340 dollars to the organizations that worked during the summer to make the 35-year-old sale possible yet again. Volunteers worked collecting, inventorying and running the sale to earn money based on how many hours they put in, which they then donated to a nonprofit organization.
“This rummage sale has been around long before second-hand and thrift stores,” said Mary Claire Van Dyke of the Eagle River Watershed Council, beneficiary of the rummage sale. “It gives people an outlet to throw in their stuff to benefit these organizations. It’s a very old tradition here of giving back within the community itself.”
Marv Lapin, the fund’s treasurer, said the rummage sale allows nonprofits to come together to raise money instead of hosting dozens of separate fundraisers.
“It has a unifying effect in this whole area,” Lapin said. “It’s a recycling tool, and it’s the best kind of recycling. Things are bought for pennies on the dollar.”
Lapin said he’s watched young people furnish their homes from the rummage sale, and added the gently used clothing is always popular among the 3,000-4,000 people who come to the sale every year.
“Several (nonprofit organizations) get a large part of their funding through the rummage sale,” Lapin said.
For Meet the Wilderness, which operates on a budget of about $290,000 a year, the $10,500 earned through the sale will go a long way, said executive director Joe Schmitt.
“It’s the most we’ve ever earned,” said Schmitt, whose group has participated in the sale for more than a decade and racked up 1,300 hours of work this year. “It means a lot to me that the people in the community will really put the time in. If the rummage sale didn’t assist us year to year, it would definitely affect the programs we’re able to offer.”
Schmitt said the best part of his story is the funds will go right back to the community in the form of Meet the Wilderness’ team building and other outdoor programs.
For the Eagle River Watershed Council, which earned $4,500, the money will allow the organization to partner with other groups to further their mission of advancing the health of the river.
“It’s the difference between having the project and closing the project,” Van Dyke said. “And it’s all through the goodness of the people in the community that makes it work.”
Staff Writer Nicole Frey can be reached at 949-0555, ext. 14621, or nfrey@vaildaily.com.
Vail, Colorado