County workers set yard sale to raise funds for United Way

To raise money for the United Way, the Columbia County government is sponsoring a yard sale Saturday morning.

County employees have donated household items and baked goods to the annual United Way Campaign Yard Sale, set for 8-11 a.m. outside the county health department in Building D of the Columbia County Government Complex.

"We do an internal campaign among our departments, but we also ask our employees, after Labor Day, to clean out their closets and get rid of the old toys and things they no longer need to have the opportunity to put on this sale for a good cause," said Marcia Lowry, the county's human resources manager.

The yard sale is part of an ongoing fund-raising campaign for the United Way by county government employees, who also donate money to the organization.

//

The county's fund-raising goal this year is $20,000.

As of last week, which was the last time the collections were counted, county workers had contributed $6,400, or 32 percent of their goal.

"At this point, we're still very early in our campaign," Lowry said.

Lowry said she hopes the yard sale will bring in a few hundred dollars closer to meeting the goal.

"This is our fifth year of doing the yard sale," she said. "The least we've ever raised was $400, and we've raised as much as $800. I'd like to see us get closer to the $800 mark."

Regardless of how well the yard sale goes, anything not sold still will go to good causes, Lowry said.

"We are hoping for a good campaign," she said. "We're accepting items and we do baked goods. Anything left over at the end of the day is donated to other charities like the Salvation Army or Goodwill. Nothing is wasted."