The much-anticipated Vermilion Rotary Club Garage Sale was changed to an online auction this year. The Rotary Club typically holds an annual garage sale in April, but due to COVID-19, they were unable to. Despite being unable to host a garage sale, the Rotary Club had a surplus of donated furniture, many of which came from families with seniors moving into the lodge. The Rotary Club doesn’t usually take as many donations as they had received this year, but they made exceptions as many donations were from seniors moving into long term care facilities. “It does us good to assist families in life-changing situations,” said Rotarian Brenda Lee. “So, we said, ‘sure!’”. In the beginning, the Rotary Club was unsure of how to go about the garage sale but wanted to host it before college students had already furnished their apartments. As well, the Rotary Club wanted to ensure they did the garage sale before the busy harvest season. The club considered hosting a physical garage sale with enforced COVID-19 precautions but decided against it. “We as Rotarians felt it was just too risky for our community and volunteers,” explained Lee. The Rotary Club was offered an RV shop for storage and facilitation of the online furniture sale by Webb’s Machinery, which Lee expressed much gratitude towards. Lee expresses regret as she and numerous community members miss the interaction at the physical Rotary Club Garage Sale. “It lost that little bit of personal feel to it,” comments Lee. Though the visual affirmation of community support was absent from the online setting, the online auction was quite a success, with only a few remaining items. According to Lee, the Rotary Club Garage Sale is the Rotary fundraiser with the most community support and generosity. Funds raised from the garage sale are crucial to how much the Rotary Club contributes to the community, such as the recently completed $100,000 lodge modernisation project. Funds from the online auction will likely contribute the Rotary’s soon-coming commitment with the Ice Plant.
- Vermilion Voice