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Red Deer Christmas Bureau hosting garage sale

The Red Deer Christmas Bureau Society is holding its second garage sale of the year this week to help support families this holiday season.
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Joy Davies, a Red Deer Christmas Bureau volunteer, organizes items at the society’s garage sale on Thursday. The event continues Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Photo by Sean McIntosh/Advocate staff)

The Red Deer Christmas Bureau Society is holding its second garage sale of the year this week to help support families this holiday season.

The sale began Thursday and will continue Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 7428 49th Ave. in north Red Deer.

“It was really nice this morning. We weren’t supposed to open until 10, but we had people there at 9 o’clock wanting to go into the garage sale. I think within the first two hours, we made almost $1,000,” said Christmas bureau president Teresa Kutynec.

“Most of the (items for sale) are worth a toonie. We do have some other stuff that are $5 or $10, too.”

The bureau is a nonprofit organization that aims to ensure each child receives a toy on Christmas and to help those in need enjoy a meal on Christmas Day.

“We had never really done garage sales before, but we decided this year we had a lot of excess stuff we thought we could put in a garage sale. We had a nice, big donation of stuff that an organization had given to us and said we should try it in a garage sale,” Kutynec said.

The sale held earlier this year raised about $2,000. Kutynec said she hopes this current sale can raise even more.

“We’ve lost a few of our fundraisers this year, so we’re certainly looking for other avenues to get some money,” she said.

COVID-19 will have an impact on the bureau this holiday season, she added.

“We don’t actually know how we’re going to do with our toy box drive. I know there are some places that aren’t really interested in doing it, just because of the whole contact thing, so I’m sure we’re going to be down on the toy department this year.

“I don’t know necessarily if we’ll have a lot of walk-in donations this year, either. We’re definitely bracing for a bit of a harder year.”

The bureau will open Nov. 2, which is a week earlier than the usual opening date, to get extra clients if they need to apply.

Precautions are put in place at the garage sale to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Face masks are recommended and only a certain number of people can be inside the building at a given time.

For more information, visit reddeerchristmasbureau.com.



sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com

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Sean McIntosh

About the Author: Sean McIntosh

Sean joined the Red Deer Advocate team in the summer of 2017. Originally from Ontario, he worked in a small town of 2,000 in Saskatchewan for seven months before coming to Central Alberta.
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