When Tim Long decided to have a yard sale this past weekend to raise money for a local toddler battling cancer, he hoped for the support of his neighbors in Beverly. As it turned out, he never had to worry.
“I think this united the whole neighborhood,” he said.
Long, 17, is heading into his senior year at St. Rita High School and chose the endeavor as his school service project.
The boy with cancer, Beau Dowling, 2, is also the brother of Long’s friend, Kevin Dowling.
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Long’s mother, Jackie Long, said she wasn’t surprised by her son’s desire and drive to raise money for his friend’s family because he frequently volunteers for other projects and is a high achiever as evidenced by his membership in the National Honor Society.
The Longs felt helping Beau and his family through a difficult time made a lot of sense, especially because the Dowling family “is constantly helping people,” Jackie said.
“We just wanted to give back,” she said.
It’s familiar territory for the Long family.
Long and his mother, his father John and his brother Michael, 19, have always been involved in school, community and church activities, Jackie said. They have had garage sales to raise funds for juvenile diabetes research, make regular donations to Goodwill, are part of the St. John Fisher Garden Club to help maintain the facilities and work at its three-day annual Fisher Fest.
“We do a lot of service here,” Tim Long said.
He said he used social media, flyers and the St. John Fisher bulletin, among other local resources, to get the word out. That began in February — the earlier the better because Long wanted to take advantage of people getting rid of things during spring cleaning, he said.
Jackie Long said she was overwhelmed by the response of the community.
Seven neighbors on their 2600 block of 104th Street opened their front lawns for canopies and tables of merchandise to create the yard sale market last weekend.
“It’s been a group effort, everybody helping in every way,” Jackie Long said.
That includes neighbors and friends who gave garage space, storing thousands of items as long as necessary. Jackie Long said “two-and-a-half garages and half a basement” were filled with things intended to help Beau and his family.
Support extended far beyond their Beverly neighborhood, they said, and more than just being overwhelming, it’s been an emotional experience to watch people show they care.
Workers from Henkels & McCoy, Inc. who were working on a gas line replacement in the neighborhood, told the Longs they would be careful not to disrupt the garage sale as they tore up sidewalks in the area. Those same workers were invited to the cookout for volunteers, and about 60 or 70 showed up for lunch, Jackie Long said, but not empty-handed. The guys collected the money they would have spent on lunch, donating more than $1,000 to the fundraiser.
And many other neighborhood residents donated items for the sale.
One young man brought his entire childhood collection of cars, and a woman drove over to tell them she was going to have a garage sale of her own and give the proceeds to Long’s project.
Hundreds of customers perused through books, clothes, sports equipment and other items throughout the three days.
“It was a great turnout,” said Tom Dorng, one of the neighbors who offered his lawn.
Some visitors didn’t buy anything but donated, anyway.
And many customers paid much higher than the asking price for items.
Eric Rosenberock, of Oak Lawn, for example, paid $30 for a baking pan.
“It’s a healthy cause,” he said. “It’s better to offer money to someone in need.”
Seven-year-old Zoe Norris, of Mount Greenwood, made use of crutches her mom bought for her at the garage sale after spraining her ankle recently while on a trampoline.
“We wanted to give to the little one (Beau Dowling),” said her mother, Michelle Norris.
Tim Long said the event far exceeded his goal of raising $2,000. Long said he set his goal at that amount for the entire weekend, “and then we pretty much hit that” on the first day of sales.
“Every penny” raised will go toward the Dowling family’s medical expenses, Jackie Long said, as there were no overhead costs and most of the items were donated. Unsold items from the yard sale were donated to Goodwill and the Epilepsy Foundation of Chicago.
Tim Long said the project also exceeded his required 100 service hours. But he didn’t mind.
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“I learned that service could be fun,” he said. “It was cool to see everyone come together.”
Frank Vaisvilas and Ginger Brashinger are freelance reporters for the Daily Southtown.