Lighten Up Garage Sale is Coming!

Carleton College’s Center for Community and Civic Engagement (CCCE) will host its annual “Lighten Up!” Garage Sale on Saturday, June 18 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, June 19 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Carleton’s West Gym. The popular sale converts the unwanted year-end possessions of Carleton students into bargains for area residents and cash for local charities. The sale is held every year during Carleton’s reunion weekend and the CCCE advises shoppers to shop early and often.

Each year, Carleton’s Center for Community and Civic Engagement partners with three local non-profit organizations to organize the “Lighten Up!” Garage Sale. Proceeds from the sale are split between Project Friendship, which teams up with Carleton and St. Olaf students to offer mentoring programs for local youth; The Key (Northfield Union of Youth), a nonprofit youth center run by young people; and the Northfield Area Special Olympics, which offers opportunities for disabled people to get involved in sports. In 2015, the CCCE’s community garage sale raised over $38,000 for the local non-profits.

At the end of each academic year, sites are set up across campus to collect unwanted items from students as they prepare to move out of their residence halls. The West Gym will be filled with these donated belongings from Carleton’s student body. Items on sale include clothing (including winter gear), books, sporting goods, household items, furniture, bedding, electronics and much more. A staggering amount of material is collected each year and, although the sale provides a way to reuse these items instead of sending them to the landfill, it is also a sobering reminder of how much is acquired. Please come and support this amazing fundraiser and practice “greener” living.

For more information regarding the event, contact Stacey Johnson at (507) 222-5937. The West Gym is located off Highway 19 East on the Carleton College campus in Northfield.