Several remodeling associations hold yard sales to clear out new and used building materials and improve community relations. The Oregon Remodelers Association, the NARI Tampa Bay chapter, and the Idaho Remodelers Association all host sales to raise money for their chapters or for charity. "It's a win-win-win -- everybody's happy," says Phil Peach, executive director of the Oregon association. Remodelers clear their storerooms of unneeded materials, homeowners find bargains to improve their homes, and charities and community groups receive funds or services.
Peach says a regional government organization, Metro, runs a rebuilding center and helps with their yearly spring sale. Metro provides grant funds to promote and market the sale, a trailer to store the items, and a grassy area next to their building for the actual event. "We notify our members," he explains. "They deliver truckloads of stuff and store them in the full-sized container." The association runs ads in community newsletters and sends an announcement to a mailing list of yard sale enthusiasts.
Materials purchased by the general public range from special order, unused custom windows to cabinets and windows that were pulled out of houses during remodels.
The sale usually nets about $5,000, and proceeds go to the association's Remodelers Foundation, a group that provides free remodeling services to people in need. "Anything left is donated to the Metro-run rebuilding center," Peach says.
Proceeds from the Idaho Remodelers Association sale were earmarked for their legislative and community committees.
The 115-member Tampa Bay association has run a yard sale twice a year for three years. They typically raise $1,000 per sale, and the money is used to support a range of charities including Toys for Tots, breast cancer research, the Eagle Scouts, and a scholarship fund. To promote the sale, they send out press releases to local newspapers. "It's a good way to get the NARI name out to the public," says executive director Cheryl Harris.
