Turnover Time: Volunteers Give and Get

This is my fifteenth summer volunteering at the Turnover Sale. I don’t mean that to sound boastful. For one thing, that’s nothing compared to many volunteers, who count their time in decades and even in generations. (Yes, there are a number of third-generation volunteers.) For another, this is a volunteer gig that gives as good as it gets.

I love the Turnover for the good it does. As a community, we get what we don’t need anymore into the hands of those who do.  More personally, I like the buzz of the crowds on selling days. But what keeps me coming back is the sense of difference at the end of a day.

I generally work in the Children’s Room, where kids’ clothes, costumes and infant bedding is sold. Most donated items come in trash or shopping bags. When I arrive at Morrow on a morning, I pull clothes from the bags and sort them by size, style and gender and place them on the correct table or in the labeled box. That’s it. It requires no training, no meetings, no special skills. In fact, I put on my iPod and happily sort for a couple of hours at a time, often leaving empty bags behind me as I work around the room.

At the end of the time, the room is changed. The empty bags are one way to mark my progress. Tidy piles are another. The place looks different when I’m done, though there’s always more to do.

Likewise, on sale days, customers come and shop. At the end of those days, the room again looks changed. The piles are smaller and goods have gone home to be used and worn by new owners. Again, there is a visible difference.

Robert Frost wrote about the satisfaction of “Mending Wall.” I’m no poet, but there’s surprising beauty in a stack of folded toddler t-shirts.

Come on in and see. To volunteer or find out more, MorrowMem.org or 973 763-7676. The first date to donate is Monday, June 20. The first sale date is Saturday, July 2.

Turnover Sale Dates, 2011

Saturday, 7/2, 9:30 am-12:30 pm

Tuesday, 7/5, 7-9 pm

Saturday, 7/9, 9:30 am-12:30 pm

Tuesday, 7/12, 7-9 pm

Saturday, 7/16, 9:30 am-12:30 pm

Tuesday, 7/19, 7-9 pm

Thursday, 7/21, 9:30 am-12:30 pm CLOSING DAY