The summer season always brings its share of yard sales, and for Aurora resident Theresa Heynez one of her favorite ones to visit happens to be right down the street at Mutual Ground.
“I get up and just walk over here. I’ll come two or three times today and also tomorrow where you can get a whole bag of stuff for like $20,” Heynez said Friday morning at the 24th annual Miss Fannie’s Yard Sale.
The annual fundraising event at Mutual Ground, a domestic violence shelter at 418 Oak Ave. in Aurora, is named after longtime volunteer and advocate Fannie Morrison, who began working with the group in 1999.
Mutual Ground provides support for individuals and families impacted by domestic violence, sexual abuse and substance abuse.
Heynez said the event is a must for her to attend.
“I’ve been here every year, I mean, every year they’ve had this,” Heynez said. “I get things for my children and soap and shampoo and clothes because they’re not too expensive. I wait for this day.”
For nearly a quarter century, the two-day event which opened on Friday and raises funds for Mutual Ground has featured a wide array of clothes, shoes, books, furniture and household items as well as personal hygiene products, blankets, and more.
“Donations this year – we are grateful that we have an abundance of donations – we are very lucky the community supports us yearly,” said Julie Zeman of Yorkville, who serves as the volunteer coordinator for the yard sale, before the opening of the event Friday. “We have some furniture and lots of baby items and household things. Our basement is loaded, our donation room is loaded. We have things in different buildings.”
Last year’s sale was said to have netted close to $6,000 for Mutual Ground and drew about 1,000 people over its two days.
“People look forward to this,” Zeman said. “We find that even though there are some early shoppers, it’s kind of an even split between the two days as those that come later on Saturday get better deals and, at the beginning, you get the first pick.”
Betsy Santana, who serves as Mutual Ground’s advancement director, said “it’s really this community that supports us with donations and then by coming and shopping.”
Over the two days, Santana said that usually “about 60% of the things we put out are sold.”
“We try to sell things at an affordable cost and whatever is left over that we can use for shelter residents, we’ll take back in and then some things – depending on what it is – we do work with Wayside Cross and donate to them,” she said.
Baby and kids’ clothes are usually snatched up the quickest, Zeman said, something that was confirmed by Heather Torres of Aurora who said “I usually look for a lot of baby stuff – toddler stuff.”
More Top Picks Best All In One Home Gyms
“As my kids are growing they need things as well as maybe some things for my husband,” Torres said as she looked at a child’s play table at the sale on Friday. “The baby stuff does go the quickest. Last year, I didn’t come on Friday but on Saturday, and while they still had a lot of baby stuff I knew that I had missed out on some of the better things. I wasn’t going to make that mistake this time. I said, I’m coming Friday.”
Cyndi Beach of Montgomery said she planned to volunteer Saturday at the yard sale but was there as a shopper Friday morning.
“I tell people they have everything here – my grandkids’ clothes, my daughter and my son’s clothes and household stuff for me,” she said on Friday. “They have everything. I mean, everything. I feel like there are more things here this year. A lot more.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.