Donate stuff, volunteer and bake for the planet
Ecology Ottawa’s Great Glebe GREEN Garage Sale
By Josh Snider
My absolute favourite event of the year is right around the corner and I’m excited to share details with you. Ecology Ottawa’s 9th annual Great Glebe GREEN Garage Sale will be taking place on Saturday, May 28, in the Rogers Plus and Kunstadt Sports parking lots.
Ecology Ottawa is a volunteer-driven, not-for-profit organization working to make Ottawa the green capital of Canada. We believe that Ottawans want sustainable communities and that they care about issues such as climate change, clean water, safe streets, trees, public transit and renewable energy.
The Event
The Great Glebe GREEN Garage Sale is a super-fun fundraising and community-building event and is easily the single largest gathering during the community-wide garage sale. We collect unwanted donated items from more than 200 supporters like you around the city and sell them to raise money for Ecology Ottawa and the Ottawa Food Bank. We have raised nearly $60,000 in the past eight years, funds that have had a huge impact on these important community organizations and we had a blast doing it. An amazing team of over 100 volunteers coordinates everything.
But this ain’t your grandma’s garage sale. It’s more of a festival because we have DJs spinning, massage therapists, a veggie BBQ, a bake sale and much more (we always have surprises in store). Some awesome music has already been confirmed, courtesy of Kitchen Party’s DJ Sweet Cheeks and DJ Hobo (hip-shaking head-bopping beats all morning), and Ceremony’s DJ Eric Roberts (funk and hip to the hop all afternoon till you drop)!
There are a number of ways that you can help support this event and make it a huge success again.
Volunteer
This event would not be possible without the support of our incredible volunteers. Whether you have two hours or 12 to give, we would love your help. There are a variety of roles for volunteers of all ages and capacities, including sorting donations before the event (read: advance shopping opportunity), setting up in the morning, selling items at the sale, BBQing, staffing the bake sale, and helping with clean up at the end of the sale.
As well, if you have access to a vehicle of any size, we would greatly appreciate your help to collect donated items from people who can’t deliver. We will match you with donors who live near you and have suitable donations for the size of your vehicle. We hope to arrange all pick-ups the week of May 23 and will work within your availability to make it as convenient as possible for you.
And yes, volunteering for the Great Glebe GREEN Garage sale can count toward your high school volunteer hours, so you can kick back and enjoy your summer
DONATE YOUR UNWANTED STUFF
Now’s the time for spring cleaning. Turn your trash into treasure! We would love for you to donate your unwanted stuff to the sale. We will happily accept anything and everything… big and small… new and old… cool and not-so-cool including clothes, furniture, working electronics and appliances, books, music, movies, games, kids stuff, sports gear, kitchen stuff, and knick-knacks, too! We want it all! All leftover items are donated to worthy organizations across the city, so you won’t find your stuff floating in the canal. And if you don’t have access to a car, we can even send volunteers to pick up your stuff!
Bake Something Yummy
Calling all sweet tooths! If you like to bake, we would love tasty treats for our bake sale. It’s the yummiest way to help save the planet!
Join The Festivities On May 28
On Saturday, May 28, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the Rogers Plus and Kunstadt Sports parking lots.
be sure to visit the most fantabulous event in the neighbourhood at our prime location: 680 & 690 Bank Street at Glebe Avenue, in the Rogers Plus and Kunstadt Sports parking lots. Shop for some great bargains, grab a coffee and breakfast, have a delicious veggie lunch, boogie to the awesome music, get a relaxing massage, and learn more about the great organization behind all of this: Ecology Ottawa.
A thank you to all of our generous supporters, including our major partners: Rogers Plus, Kunstadt Sports, PODS, FROGBOX, Loblaws, VRTUCAR, the Glebe BIA, and Your Credit Union.
For more details on the event, and to sign up to donate, volunteer or bake, please visit www.ecologyottawa.ca/garage-sale.
Josh Snider is the volunteer founder and chair of Ecology Ottawa’s Great Glebe GREEN Garage Sale.
The Great Glebe Garage Sale – what to do with the leftovers
Dear neighbours: We all love the Great Glebe Garage sale. It’s a fabulous community-wide event. It’s a celebration. It’s another thing that makes our neighbourhood really special. Let’s do it even better in 2016! Social: Let’s all make sure we remember to give our 10 per cent of sale proceeds as a donation to the Ottawa Food Bank. You can do your donation online at www.ottawafoodbank.ca/donate/. Remember that the roots of the Glebe Community Association-organized event are to give back
to those in greater need. Environmental: This year we are again going to make special efforts towards environmental stewardship and the responsible and proactive disposal of leftovers from the garage sale. Check out our detailed guide! And if you will be out of town for the weekend, you can still participate: give your stuff to Ecology Ottawa’s Great Glebe GREEN Garage Sale so that your stuff can be re-purposed, up-cycled or re-recycled. For pick-up information, click here.
