UMW Garage Sale

The major fund raiser for the United Methodist Women (UMW) at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in State College is the Garage Sale held in late August. Parishioners contribute useable items they no longer need. Garage sale goers swoop in to make purchases. All of the money that is raised goes to local, national and world-wide missions supported by UMW.

While planning stretches over the year, the actual garage sale is a week of hard work and long days – four and a half days of intake, sorting and organizing; one and a half days of sales; and a pack-up day. Most unsold items are passed onto Centre Peace for its restore and criminal justice project, with children’s books going to St. Paul's Shoe Bank and other books and CDs going to the local American Association of University Women chapter for its spring book sale. The St. Paul’s Preschool and State College Women’s Resource Center also receive items.

2018 was the second year of the garage sale. It was preceded by a long-running bazar-type auction and market. Sue and a core group of UMW members have led these two events over the last eight years, with a large number of other members pitching in across the week. The following is a sample of photos from the prep and sale days.