Flagler County, FL (October 9, 2021) Relying on donations from the community to make The Giving Store a holiday success for children across Flagler County, the Flagler Volunteer Services add up the dollars raised at the semi-annual Rummage Sale each spring and fall to make ends meet.
Whether it was pent up demand or a sneak peek at some really stellar bargains, the two day event at Cattleman’s Hall over the weekend resulted in a solid return on investment – it takes months to collect all of the donation items to sell, and a nearly empty truck on the Saturday.
In other words, it was a good weekend.
“The sale was phenomenal. We sold probably more than we’ve ever sold as far as all of our stuff was almost gone at the end, which is fantastic,” said Suzy Gamblain, executive director of the Flagler Volunteer Services.
“I think that there was such a long time that we weren’t able to do sales, there were a lot of people that were really looking forward to it. We also had some really great donations, I think because as COVID happened, people cleaned out their homes and gave really nice stuff. We had really good luck and it made us feel really good,” she said.
Eager volunteers worked throughout the week to help set up the goods for sale, and were grateful to receive help with the heavy lifting from the Flagler Palm Coast JROTC cadets, who lugged tables, lifted furniture and even came back to help with the breakdown and cleanup on Saturday afternoon.
Wyatt Brown, sophomore, JROTC
“I’m happy to help out Flagler Volunteer Services with their rummage sale because I get to help the community and get to meet other people, other cadets from different flights,” said Flagler Palm Coast High School JROTC sophomore Wyatt Brown.
“I get to work with amazing people who do hard work for hours on end, every day and most importantly I get to help out the children who can’t buy the presents themselves,” he said.
Providing service to assist the community is a character trait retired USAF MSGT. Gardner Holland, an instructor with JROTC, calls a fundamental building block of the program.
“We do this every year. Our kids like coming out and helping out,” said Holland. “Our program is about building community and citizens of character. Community service in our classroom, we stress it.”
Flagler Volunteer Services is just one of many service organizations that receive support from Flagler Palm Coast High School’s JROTC program, shared Lt. Col. Melvin Baskerville, Senior Air and Space Instructor at FPC.
“Coming out here supporting Flagler Volunteer Services is just a tremendous treat to us. We like to come out here and support by giving our time and energy to help because a lot of these folks who run this are retired,” said Baskerville. “To come out here and show them that the youth cares about their community, and willing to give up their Saturdays, it’s what the ROTC program is about.”
All of the work leads up the annual Giving Store holiday shopping experience for kids in the community, allowing them an opportunity to “shop” for their families, at no cost. The event is set for December 18th at Cattleman’s Hall and registration is currently open according to Judy Mazzella, volunteer coordinator for the Flagler Volunteer Services.
“It was great to get all the volunteers together. They were all really excited to get back out and do what they love to do, which is volunteering and raising money for The Giving Store,” said Mazella.
“Registration for The Giving Store has opened and we’re always looking for volunteers to shop, and then help with set up and break down, and the day of the event,” she said.
Want to help? Give Judy a call at 386-597-2950 and sign up to volunteer for The Giving Store.
https://flaglervolunteer.org/about/the-giving-store/
