After a few months of preparation, I was happy to be part of an event that unfolded as perfectly as Mother Nature dried up the rain and cascaded sunshine down upon us! Bayfront Part was a perfect venue and as the large Atlas Van Lines transport rolled in before the Sun said "good morning", over 2 dozen volunteers stood patiently waiting to unload it's cargo. Our clients didn't let us down and for weeks they'd been decluttering and donating. Sales Rep's and support staff from all three Royal LePage State offices organized, priced and packed everything and as the day grew nearer, there was no doubt in any ones minds that we had a massive amount of merchandise and clothing to sell.

On the eve of the sale, hundreds of boxes were loaded into a moving pod plus a transport truck and at the crack of dawn on the 15th of May, hundreds of volunteer hours had been committed to the sale. It was the final stretch.

As the dew dried off the grass, everyone scrambled to unload boxes and display their wears. The time went by fast. By 9 am in the morning the shoppers were starting to pour in and the deals were flying off of the tables! Boxes of cloths for $4.00, wine glasses...6 for a dollar...pictures for $3.00, toys for $1.00 plus plus plus! Our donations were so high that we didn't have a choice but to sell, sell, sell!!

Royal LePage's Shelter Foundation supports womens shelters across Canada, but the National Garage Sale served another great purpose. It assisted many new immigrant and low income families in Hamilton. One woman, who was a survivor of domestic violence was there with her young son. She bought almost everything she needed to cloth herself and her son plus furnish their apartment for $200.00 ! Her young son beamed ear to ear with a smile when she purchased an area rug for his bedroom...it cost her $10.00. "Mom!!! I'm going to have a rug in my bedroom!!!!" It was a pretty sobering moment. Domestic violence is real and these families need as much help as they can get. Emotionally and financially. It became apparent to many of us that the National Garage Sale was not only raising money for the area Shelters, but it was distributing clothing and items to families in need, at a price well within their budget.

Even though I'm proud to say that I work for Royal LePage State Realty....a great Company that's part of the fantastic Canadian Royal LePage network, I'm more proud to think I'm surrounded by such incredible and giving colleagues! Cheers to all of my fellow volunteers, high school volunteers, management and everyone else who helped make this day such an overwhelming success!!!