11th Annual Gently-Used Clothing & Sports Equipment Swap & Sale
Click here for a flyer, suitable for posting.
Do you have lots of clothes in those closets and drawers just taking up space? Kids outgrown their clothes again? How about soccer cleats? The Gently-Used Clothing & Sports Equipment Swap & Sale might just be the ticket.
Here’s How It Works:
The week before Green Fest, you may drop off clean, gently-used clothing of any size (infant – adult) and gently-used sports equipment at the Community Center in Shafer Park. Earn a credit for each piece you drop off.
On the day of Green Fest (May 18) starting at 10:30 a.m., take the credit vouchers to the Green Fest swap in Pavilion #1 and choose an equal number of items. (It is preferable that items be dropped off at the Community Center during the week prior to the festival, although items may be swapped the day of the festival at the pavilion.)
Even if you do not have items to swap, you may still participate by purchasing clothing at yard-sale prices (50 cents each). Donation tax receipts are available upon request.
All clothing not swapped or sold will be donated to Children in Need, Inc. of Washington County. Monetary proceeds will go to Micah’s Backpack, which provides nutritious meals and snacks to hungry children in South Washington County during weekends when they don’t have access to meals at school.
Want to volunteer?
Volunteers are always needed, including high school students looking for SSL (Student Service Learning) hours. Click here for volunteering information. Volunteers must sign up by May 4, 2019.
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More about THE SWAP
The Gently-Used Clothing & Sports Equipment Swap & Sale has been in operation since the first Green Fest in May 2009.
The Swap will occupy Pavilion #1, next to the Recycling Zone (Community Center) parking lot in Shafer Park, during the Green Fest, which runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 18.
Again this year, organizers predict that as many as 10,000 pieces will be swapped or donated.
With all those items to be sorted into sizes, organizers begin accepting items in the Community Center at Shafer Park during the week prior to the festival: Monday through Thursday, May 13-16, from 4-7 p.m. and Wednesday, May 15, from 10 a.m. to noon.
Click here for a flyer, suitable for posting.
The Town of Boonsboro makes this project possible by donating collection space in the Community Center for the sorting process.
A number of church groups and local nonprofits, led by a group of area moms, assist with collecting, sorting and selling items. Organizations taking part in the project over the years have included: St. James Catholic Church, St. Agnes Catholic Church, a local Cub Scout troop, Boonsboro High School National Honors Society, Benevola United Methodist Church, Boonsboro Green Fest Committee, and many individuals, including scores of middle and high school students.
Everyone involved benefits from the swap:
- Citizens feel good about cleaning out their closets and donating reusable items.
- Mothers, who must clothe their growing youngsters, are able to swap outgrown clothing for “new” wardrobes at no charge.
- Adults of all shapes and sizes can shop for needed items either by swapping unwanted items or buying items for only 50 cents each.
- Volunteers feel good by sorting, folding and organizing the clothing.
- Student volunteers are eligible for Student Service Learning (SSL) hours.
Proceeds from the sale of items are donated to Micah’s Backpack to be used in a program that reaches children from South County schools whose families experience trouble in providing meals over the weekend when the youngsters are not in school. The program is part of the services provided by the South County Food Bank, which operated out of the Trinity Lutheran Church on Main Street in Boonsboro.
Items that are leftover are donated to Children In Need, Inc. of Washington County, a non-profit organization providing local students of all ages some of the necessities needed for learning.
Several years ago, the popularity of the clothing swap sparked the addition of a Sports Equipment Swap, which is run concurrently with the clothing swap.
Tax receipts are available for donations.