Calling all bargain-hunters: Clean Sweep returns June 20 for 15th year
The fun begins during the 2014 Clean Sweep “garage sale” at Bates. (Alexander Hulse ’15/Bates College)
A “garage sale” on a massive scale that benefits the environment, community organizations and countless satisfied shoppers, Bates College presents its 15th annual Clean Sweep at 8 a.m. Saturday, June 20, at the Underhill Arena, 145 Russell St.
As students pack up to leave Bates at the end of the school year, they donate to Clean Sweep all kinds of possessions still in good working order — clothing, electronics and toys, household goods and small furnishings, bikes and books, sporting goods and more. Faculty, staff and the college itself also donate items.
It’s a win-win-win-win situation: Shoppers find treasures at bargain prices, still-usable goods are kept out of the waste stream and the proceeds go to local nonprofits, who in turn supply volunteers to staff the sale.
To learn more, please call 207-786-6464.
Bates is one of a number of colleges and universities nationwide that hold such sales. Last year’s event at Bates raised nearly $22,000, which was divided among 12 local nonprofit organizations.
The volunteers collect, organize and price items, and help clean up afterward. Located in Lewiston except as indicated, the nonprofits taking part this year are:
The Caleb Group (River Valley Village); Catholic Charities of Maine’s Seek Elderly Alone, Renew Courage and Hope (SEARCH) Program; Maine Franco-American Genealogy Society of Auburn-Lewiston, located in Auburn; the Life Center at John F. Murphy Homes, Auburn; the Lots to Gardens program at St. Mary’s Nutrition Center; the Share Center, Auburn; TriCounty Mental Health Services and its Social Learning Center; and the Trinity Jubilee Center.
