Mega Charity Yard Sale, Helping Those in Need

HIGH SPRINGS ‒ Yard sales are an opportunity for people to buy goods at an affordable price and for other people to clear out space in their homes and garages. For the Deeper Purpose Community Church, a yard sale is also a way to help people in the community. This past Saturday on May 28, the church held its Annual Spring Charity MEGA Yard Sale from 9 a.m. to noon.

The sale brought out people to peruse through mountains of donated items that seemingly included just about anything one could need, including jewelry, girls and boys clothing and toys, baby items, furniture, office, household, and kitchen items. Many of the items were donated from Just Between Friends of Gainesville (JBF), but many items were donated by church members and local residents who filled truckloads of items.

“We partnered with JBF and received donations of items that consigners didn’t sell during the JBF Mega Sale. In the fall we had a free yard sale event, where we gave away countless items to families in the community, but this go round, we are selling the items donated to us at low prices to help fund the free programs we offer, as well as to help raise money for our building fund for our community complex,” said Church Pastor Adam Joy.

Monies from fundraisers and donations support a variety of church programs including the Deeper Purpose Kids Academy, which is a Christian Nursery and Preschool. Other programs support children including before and after care for school aged children and additional programs for families during the summer, Thanksgiving, spring and winter breaks.

The church has purchased 13 acres of land that will eventually house their church, school, youth, community and outreach centers in phases. Additional funding for the buildings was part of the Building Purpose Campaign 1,000. The campaign goal was for 100 people, families, businesses, churches, silent/ anonymous donors, individuals, or organizations to donate $1,000 within 100 days for the church’s Capital Fundraising Campaign. In just 16 days, they raised $31,000 in financial contributions for the building project and another $14,000 in pledges.

“We are a spirit-filled and purpose-driven, multicultural non-denominational Christian church,” said Joy. “We welcome anyone regardless of background, ethnicity or situation, to be a helping hand to those in need. Our mission is to serve the community, help those that need it and spread the word of God.”

Over the course of the year, the church holds food drives for the needy as well as special events such as the Easter Egg Hunt and Back the Blue event. A portion of the money raised by the yard sale this year will also go toward a Senior Citizen Outreach Drive on Wednesday, June 1. They hope to reach senior citizens who have come across difficult times and who are on a fixed income. “Most of them get very little income and by the time they pay what bills they do have, the truth is, they don’t have much left to spend on gas or food,” Joy said.

To help out, members of the church and High Springs community raised roughly $1,000 worth of groceries, ranging from canned goods to hygiene products. For the third year in a row, those goods will be taken to those who need them the most.

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