BY BARB BERGGOETZ
It could be called a garage sale extraordinaire.
On Saturday, August 18, the ninth annual Hoosier to Hoosier Community Sale will fill three acres with everything from couches and crutches to tea cups and tables, diverting tons of slightly used items from the landfill. The event not only encourages recycling and reuse, it also earns funds for local organizations.
For shoppers, the sale is a place to find bargains, like a $3 pair of jeans or a $1 toaster. And, in addition to a mountain of household goods, furniture, and clothing, there are plenty of curious, odd treasures to be discovered.
“Part of the fun is the unusual stuff you will find,” says Noma Maier, sustainable information technology services project manager for Indiana University Information Technology Services and a sale organizer for the event. “There are mystery pieces—unusual artwork and sculptures—lovely costume jewelry, Christmas and Halloween decorations, and a lot of costumes.”
The sale, held at The Warehouse, 1525 S. Rogers St., runs from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., but an “early-bird fee” of $5 for IU students and $10 for everyone else is in effect until 9:30 a.m. After that, admission is free. It’s cash only; free parking is available.
About 2,100 shoppers visited last year’s sale, which collected a record 75 to 80 tons of goods, primarily from IU residence halls and off-campus housing. Maier estimates about 80 percent was sold, with the rest donated to Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore, Goodwill, and other local nonprofit agencies.
“It’s a pretty impressive operation, and a volunteer-run program,” Maier says.
Volunteers can choose to donate their time to one of several nonprofit groups selected by the organizers. In return, those groups can receive as much as $5,000, based on the number of hours worked.
Most proceeds, which have totaled about $45,000 in recent years, are split between the sale’s partners—the City of Bloomington Department of Economic and Sustainable Development, the IU Office of Sustainability, IU’s University Information Technology Services, and Cutters Soccer Club—which provide many volunteers.
For more information, visit bloommagazine.dev/hoosier-to-hoosier.
