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Rummage sale funds keep nonprofits goingRummage sale funds keep nonprofits going

Nicole Frey
Preston Utley/Vail DailyShoes at the Minturn rummage sale.
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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


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