Volunteers with the Rainier High School Booster Club didn’t expect the community to donate hundreds of items for the group’s inaugural rummage sale on Saturday, May 4. In preparation for the sale, volunteers had to hold items in their homes or other storage units because of the quantity of donations.
With the proceeds from the sale benefiting the school’s athletics department, the community’s support of athletics was not so much of a surprise for the booster club, which raised more than $1,000 at the event and will donate the unsold items.
“We had a lot more donations than we anticipated having, so that was really exciting to see,” volunteer Jessica Smith said. “We had a lot of community involvement today, so I think we did great.”
The booster club collected items over the past four weeks through Facebook posts and word of mouth. Patrons could choose from a variety of items, including silverware, furniture, Halloween and Christmas decorations, VHS tapes, vinyls, DVDs, toys, sports equipment and antiques. One community member even donated a full set of Goodyear tires for the sale.
“Seeing the support from our community is really big. It means a lot to know that there are a lot of people out there that care as much as we do here in our booster club,” Smith said. “It’s exciting to see since this is the first year we’re back to really doing events like this since COVID, and I know our community is ready for more stuff.”
Volunteer Julia Black added that the event will continue to grow in the future, as the booster club has discussed a two-day sale. This year’s event was initially scheduled to be an outdoor sale, but the rainy forecast forced them into the old gym.
“It shows how much support the community has for the school and for our kids. Plus, we’ve had people come down from Spanaway and from McKenna because they saw it on Facebook,” Black said.
The rummage sale was the final fundraising event organized by the booster club in the 2023-24 school year. The club also put on the Egg My Yard fundraiser in March, a spring sports kickoff taco night, a fall carnival and a pancake feed, among other events.
To learn more about the booster club, visit its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RainierHighSchoolAthleticBoosterClub.
