Charity yard sale for Hope of St. Joseph Shelters making a comeback

Mary Beneteau shows some of the craft-related items that will be on sale during the giant charity yard sale May 29-31.

The large charity yard sale for the Hope of St. Joseph Shelters is making a comeback.

After its future was in doubt, a donation of goods was the impetus of bringing the yard sale back this year. However, unlike previous years, the sale will be smaller than in past years and operate on only one weekend.

The yard sale will be back at the home of Marc and Mary Beneteau, located at 3560 Middle Side Road (County Road 10), Thursday, May 29-Saturday, May 31. Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. each day.

Mary Beneteau said they are trying to keep things a bit simpler this year, to make it easier on their volunteers when it comes to putting items away for the night.

Work has been underway at the Beneteau home for about a month to prepare for the yard sale. Beneteau said she doesn’t do it alone, noting there is a team of loyal volunteers that assist.

“I can’t do it without the help,” she said. “I have a whole crew of people who could run it on their own if they had the storage space. That’s what they don’t have. I have the most amazing help ever. The people are energized, creative and self-directed.”

The large donation got the volunteers with the Hope of St. Joseph Shelter Inc. thinking about another yard sale. Beneteau called it “a profitable” donation as some of the items are being sold online.

“The rest we’re selling at the yard sale,” she said.

Items that aren’t sold are subject to be donated away to other organizations, such as Computers for Kids, the Habitat for Humanity “Re-Store” and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. 

“It’s donated to us. We pass it along as a donation if we can’t sell it,” said Beneteau.

There are a lot of craft-related items this year but that is not the only things they are selling as there is everything from dishes to decorations and more.

“If people are interested in crafts, we’ve got lots of it,” said Beneteau. “There’s all kinds of it.”

The charity yard sale is in its tenth year, and proceeds again benefit the shelters operated by former St. John the Baptist Church associate pastor Father Donato Lwiyando in the D.R. Congo. Father Donato has been ill, battling a parasitic infection in his intestines, and is hospitalized in Kenya.

“The infection really took its toll on him,” said Beneteau.

The money to feed and house the children is very much needed, Beneteau added. She said they enjoy the yard sale because they see how helpful the community is first-hand.

“We experience the compassion and generosity of the community,” she said.

Charity yard sale for Hope of St. Joseph Shelters making a comeback

By Ron Giofu