By Lynette Norris
Greene Publishing, Inc.
The Junior Auxiliary held the first weekend of their Indoor Garage Sale Oct. 7 and 8, bringing in just over $1000, said Kara Washington, JA member and one of the volunteers conducting the “pre-sale” Friday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. Washington estimated that between 20 and 25 people showed up at the pre-sale and about 65 to 70 attended the big main sale the next morning from 8 a.m. until noon. The following Saturday was not as busy, said Washington, but the Junior Auxiliary managed to finish up with a little over $1200 for both weekends. All remaining items were loaded up and donated to area thrift shops, and all the proceeds from the two weekends of sales go to Kids in Crisis, an emergency fund that focuses on kids, but helps entire families in emergency situations.
The Junior Auxiliary is also still conducting their annual Coats and Warm Blankets drive; several locations around town, including We Insure Florida, Madison County Community Bank, Wells Fargo (formerly Wacovia) the Busy Bee, Fellowship Baptist Church, Odiorne Insurance and Ameriprise Financial are still receiving donations of coats, warm clothing and blankets for those in need, and will continue to take in donations through the end of October. With the temperatures already dropping, these items will become more and more important in the days ahead, and the JA will be working with the schools to spread the word and locate children and families in need of warm clothing. They will also be working with the Madison Senior Center to locate seniors in need.
In the coming months, they will be busy preparing Thanksgiving baskets, working with Consolidated Christian Ministries to locate families who wouldn’t otherwise have a good Thanksgiving meal.
For Christmas, they plan to go caroling at the nursing homes, and this will also be the final Christmas they will be able to help decorate the Mansion. In hard economic times, without funding from the state, North Florida Community College will be unable to keep the Mansion open to the public after this Christmas. With that in mind, the JA and other organizations will be doing their best to make this final year a memorable one for Mansion visitors, encouraging everyone to make plans to come out this Christmas and enjoy the beautiful Mansion with its halls decked out in Victorian Yuletide glory, before its doors have to be closed.
Members of the community who would like to contribute to Kids in Crisis or any of the JA’s other projects, please contact Cathy Rogers at 464-4000.
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