WEYBURN – Over 2,000 pieces of jewelry, handbags and scarves were sorted through in the basement of Brenda King’s home, as members of the Weyburn Rotary Club prepared the items for a fundraiser sale set for Saturday, Oct. 16, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
With the cancellation of major fundraisers by the club due to COVID, the annual Golf Ball Drop and the Christmas chocolate-nut trays, the club came up with some ideas for other ways to raise funds to support their community projects.
This sale will be part of a table for the Weyburn Rotary Club at the Weyburn Culture Day, part of the grand opening of the Credit Union Spark Centre on Oct. 16. The Rotary Club will also have a number of art pieces on display which will be for sale online, and they will have “Staycation” raffle tickets for sale as well.
One of the ideas members came up with was to collect any costume jewelry, handbags or scarves that people didn’t want or use any more, and to sell those to raise funds for the community projects.
The result was an “overwhelming” response of donated items, numbering around 2,100 altogether, with about half brought to Brenda King’s home, and half were brought to a collection depot set up at Barber Motors.
“We are certainly happy and overwhelmed by the generosity of Weyburn people for this fundraiser,” said Brenda, adding with a smile, “Now the trick will be getting people to come to the sale to buy these items.”
Of the donated pieces, 115 were handbags, and 166 were scarves, with the balance being jewelry of all sorts.
After initially sorting through the jewelry, Brenda took a number of them to local jeweler Al York to see if any had a higher value, and they were pleasantly surprised at the quality of some of the pieces.
One bracelet in particular surprised them, as York appraised it as worth $1,600, as it has a number of diamonds on it. Other pieces had value for the gold, with a number of rings and necklaces being appraised at a variety of prices.
In all there were around 40 pieces that range in value from $85 up to the $1,600 bracelet, and Brenda said the sale organizers will sell these for half of the appraised value.
Some pieces will be put on a $5 or $10 table, and most will be by donation, outside of these 40 pieces that will be sold separately.
If there are any items remaining at the end of the day, some may be donated to the “Dress for Success” charity in Regina, which assists young women who need help entering the workforce, or to one of the women’s shelters in Regina.
All of the proceeds raised from the sale will stay in Weyburn, to support the many charitable and non-profit organizations that the Rotary Club assists.
“The community has been totally amazing in their support,” said Brenda, adding that the community support will go back to support the community.
