Mandy Heilman, a member of Southview Grace Brethren Church, Ashland, Ohio (Mark Abel, pastor), started out giving away a few unwanted items, but it has blossomed into a full-fledged operation. All she asks to “pay” for items is that “customers” either memorize a Bible verse or help tidy up or restock racks. (Check out their page on Facebook by clicking here.) A portion of a story from the Richland Source appears below. Click here for the complete article.
Garage Sale Cousin: Ashland woman pays it forward with ‘Paid In Full’ store
What started as a pile of unwanted stuff at the curb in front of her Washington Street home has turned into a much larger operation for Mandy Heilman.
About a year ago, Heilman had a few random items she didn’t need anymore and wasn’t sure what to do with them. Instead of taking them somewhere, she left them in front of her home. Before she knew it, the items were gone.
So, she left items out at the curb a few more times, with the same result. That’s when she started changing how she did things, setting up “free sales,” garage sales where everything is free.
“The first time I did a free sale, I had 14 boxes. In my mind, at that time, that was huge. I was excited. It just casually grew,” Heilman said.
She told her friends about her giveaways, and many of them decided to give her their unwanted items to add to her collection. …
After her church, Southview Grace Brethren, hosted a giveaway last Christmas, they had so many items left over that Heilman was able to bring home enough stuff to fill two garages. A friend donated their garage for the overflow stock until they were able to give away all but a few boxes within a month.
“And then by February, my garage was full again with items people had donated,” Heilman said.
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