Rummage Sale

There will not be a rummage sale at HNOJ this summer of 2022

History of the Rummage Sale

Recycling our Excess and Serving the Less Fortunate at our Annual Rummage Sale

Way back in 1983, the Holy Name Quilters Group puzzled over how they could raise the funds to buy quilting materials to keep their fingers busy making warm quilts for the many groups that counted on them. They settled on a rummage sale and deposited their first proceeds, $731.56, on April 29. In those days, that was just enough to keep them in fabric and batting for the coming year. A success! Led by head quilter, Pat Faue, they decided to make the sale an annual event and eventually began making even more money than the quilters needed for their ministry. Assisted by many members of the Faue family and friends of the quilters, the group was able to grow the sale to an event that allowed them to generously share thousands of dollars with local groups that serve families in our community.

By 2007, the whole operation had outgrown the Quilters and became a project of the entire Holy Name of Jesus Community. A committee of parishioners plans the event and organizes more than a hundred volunteers to carry off this sale every June. This is not just an opportunity for Holy Namers to get trendy and “simplify our lives” by cleaning out our closets and garages, though that’s great, too. Rummage sale veterans look forward to the camaraderie that emerges among the community of workers that sort through the donated goods, looking for the occasional gem among the mundane worn t-shirts, dusty books and dented kettles. There has to be a treasure in there somewhere!

One of the key elements of the mission of the rummage sale is creating an opportunity for inexpensive shopping for people who need to stretch their budget to the max. Families with children find affordable baby equipment, school clothes and slightly used toys. Penniless young people find the furnishings and dishes to set up their first apartments and a bicycle to get them around campus. The elderly poor spend hours sifting through piles of stuff for little treasures that will brighten their days. And all of us look for that perfect item to enhance our wardrobes and a book to enlighten our minds. It’s a blessing all around.

The committee also sends vouchers to IOCP and local pregnancy care centers inviting selected clients to shop for free at the end of the sale. Other charitable organizations come to collect items: the NPH orphanage; Trinity Missions, which provides coats for ex-convicts; Home Free shelter for victims of domestic violence, Southside Family Nurturing Center for disadvantaged families of preschoolers and many others. Holy Name School gets playground equipment and used uniforms. And then there is the couple who picks up hundreds of pairs of used shoes to ship to the shoeless masses in Africa…Bless them! These gifts-in-kind are just a small extra benefit but mean a lot to the organizations who receive them.

The rummage sale, which now nets well over $10,000, still funds the excellent work of the Quilters, who so faithfully sew and tie quilts for the homeless and babies and abuse victims. The rest of the funds go to the Interfaith Outreach Welcome Baby Project, Cradle of Hope, the Life Fund, Northside Life Care, Southwest Options for Women, Birthright of Minneapolis, Phoebe Ministries, Home Free, Southside Family Nurturing Center and the St. Vincent de Paul Society, all organizations that support families in our community. The good that comes from selling all of our excess stuff is enormous!

updated May 2017

Many local non-profits benefit from this sale, and we are sad that we cannot support them through the proceeds and extra items this year. (read some of last year's thank you notes in the green box) Here is a list of these wonderful organizations, in case you would like to learn more about how you can help them. 

Abria Northside www.abria.org 612-522-6589

Birthright www.birthright.org/minneapolis  612-338-2353

Cradle of Hope www.cradleofhope.org 651-636-0637

Home Free www.missionsinc.org 763-559-1883

IOCP www.iocp.org (Welcome Baby Project) 763-489-7500

Life Fund www.archspm.org (Office of Marriage, Family and Life) 651-291-4515

Phoebe Ministries (no website; contact Sue Schneider at schneider3710@msn.com or 763-478-9769)

Southwest Options for Women www.southwestoptionsforwomen.org 952-938-4496

Serve

Thanks to you!

You have been so generous! The proceeds of the annual HNOJ rummage sale have been sent out and the thanks are pouring back in. We were able to give away about $16,000 because you donated your excess stuff, labored to sort and organize all of it, and bought some of it, too. In addition, gifts in kind were given to many organizations and individuals. Special thanks, also, to all of you who brought and served fabulous food and beverages to fuel the workers, to the staff of HNOJ who supported our efforts and endured the mess, and to everyone who assisted in the planning of the event.

Here are the organizations that benefited from your generosity: HNOJ Quilters, Interfaith Outreach Welcome Baby Project, IOCP ReSale, Cradle of Hope, Archdiocesan Life Fund, Abria Northside, Southwest Options for Women, Phoebe Ministries, Birthright of Minneapolis and Home Free. As you can see, these are all organizations that serve the basic needs of families, women and children in need in our community.

Here are a few of the words of thanks that you have received:

  • “Thank you for your generous donation to Phoebe Ministries. During the past 21 years, we have supplied over 159,000 diapers and 2900 cans of infant formula. It is because of beautiful pro-life people like you that we are able to keep up with the demand.”
  • “A family in our community is welcoming a newborn with a basketful of new baby supplies, and it’s all because of you! Thank you for supporting our Baby Layette Program…. Last year 44 babies were welcomed home with baby layettes—each specially put together with blankets, infant clothes, diapers and diapering necessities, and other items like bottles and pacifiers. Thank you for supporting the Baby Layette Program and expecting IOCP families.”
  • “Thank you for your generous donation to Cradle of Hope which you were able to raise during your recent rummage sale. Coordinating an event such as this is a big undertaking and I’m so thankful for your 100 volunteers who helped make it a success. I am very honored that you have once again selected Cradle of hope as a recipient to use these funds. We will now be able to distribute eight portable cribs to families facing a crisis to ensure that 8 babies have a safe place to sleep…. These portable cribs become a physical symbol to these families that they are loved and supported. Thank you for your ongoing support to help these families choose life for their babies and become optimistic about their futures.”
  • “You are the greatest! Thank you so much for your very generous contribution from your rummage sale. We especially appreciate all the hours the 100 volunteers put into making this sale a success! I know it’s a big undertaking for anyone. Holy Name of Jesus Church is our biggest contributor, and we are forever grateful to you for keeping Birthright in mind. Because of your generosity, we are able to continue to help women and children with their needs. Thank you so much for all you do!”

You have done so much good by just cleaning out your closet and garage! Put June 14-20, 2020, on your calendars for our next, best rummage sale. Reserve some time to help work at the sale, making all this possible.

Karen Karn, Pat Karn, Lani Schlundt, Shirley Schneider, Glenna Slattery, Mike Kayser, Mary Jo Zidwick, Karen Hayes, Bobbi Stinger and Beth Dust, event committee