Photographed by Quint Scott.
Written by Asli Shebe.
On Saturday, Oct. 3, the Junior League of Savannah hosted the 68th annual thrift sale at the Savannah Civic Center. The event was held in the Martin Luther King Arena from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Every year since 1947, the Junior League takes over the MLK Arena for a week, with a preview sale the day before the official sales day. The thrift sale began 68 years ago at St. Pauls Episcopal Church and has now expanded to the Savannah Civic Center.
The projects the Junior League of Savannah takes on include:
- Kids Who Care Scholarships
- Ronald McDonald House
- Americas Second Harvest Food Bank, FitKidsFest
- Done In A Day, Golden Isles
- Backpack buddies
“We focus on women and children’s needs,” said Leslie Dunn, the 2013 thrift sale chair and 2015 thrift sale volunteer.
The annual thrift sale is the Junior League’s largest fundraiser event with the next big fundraiser being the cookbook sales. Their goal for the event is anywhere between $95,000 to $100,000.
“We usually raise between $85,000 and $95,000,” said Dunn. The money raised from the event goes towards supporting the community improvement projects the Junior League organizes.
“That’s our target. To go back into the community… the more money we raise in the sales goes right back out,” said Dunn.
The day after the sale, the members meet to reflect on the event, discussing what went well, what went wrong and how to improve for next year. Dunn mentioned how the women are working nonstop to prepare for this event, referring to the fact that the organizers of the thrift sale take the summer to prepare. Whilst other members are on break, the thrift sale volunteers begin their planning in June and the organizing and preparation runs throughout the summer.
“They’re working to get all this ready,” said Dunn.
The thrift sale provides the community with a low-cost option to purchase household items such as furniture and kitchenware. Sales items are divided into sections and range from children toys to CDs, books to home appliances and much more.
For more information on the Junior League of Savannah and the annual thrift sale visit their website.
Asli Shebe is a senior writing major from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She began working for District in 2014 as a staff writer, then copy editor, A&E editor, Chief Assignment editor and finally, Editor-in-Chief in 2017. Asli currently holds the record for obtaining the most job titles during her time at District. When she’s not writing for District you can find her biking around the Historic District of Savannah at odd hours of the day.
