‘Buck-a-Box’ yard sale raises fuel funds for fire evacuees

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Boxes piled up outside the Orland Camp Fire Donation Center on the first of a three-day yard sale Photo credit: Trenton Taylor

One week after the Camp Fire in November 2018, an empty building in Glenn County was repurposed, becoming a donation center for Camp Fire evacuees. The overflow of support from the community ensured inventory was never low.

The First Lutheran Church of Orland hosted a three-day yardless yard sale to raise money for evacuees in Glenn County. By the end of the sale on Saturday afternoon, around 400 boxes of shirts, shoes, jackets and jeans had been sold.

Church Pastor Stephen Jahn said that the event raised $1,500 for Camp Fire evacuees.

“All of the funds will be given in gas cards to support the evacuees located here in Glenn County,” Jahn said.

Glenys Anderson, a member of the Orland church, said that with so many donations something had to be done with the remaining clothes.

“What we did is we boxed it (the donations) up, and then we’re charging a dollar a box,” Anderson said. “We had 400 boxes, maybe closer to 500, and they’re all gone.”

The “buck-a-box” boxes were individually labeled by the size and type of clothing. The rest was revealed when you opened the box.

The boxed clothes at the donation center were originally meant for those affected by the Camp Fire. As the Orland church took over, clothes became available for sale to anybody who needed them, including evacuees. This gave the opportunity for people living in the Orland area, like resident James Church, to get some clothes for him and his family.

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Orland Resident James Chruch picked out a jacket to take home to his son on Feb. 21. Photo credit: Trenton Taylor

Church picked up some new pairs of jeans for himself, as well as a jacket for his son.

Anderson was hoping for success, but never expected the level of success evident by the end of the sale.

“We set goals for ourselves and we went way beyond what we imagined,” Anderson said.

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No more boxes were left to be bought on the last day of the yard sale Photo credit: Trenton Taylor

Trenton Taylor can be reached at [email protected] or @T_Taylor34 on Twitter.