Proceeds from Carleton College’s 18th annual “Lighten Up!” Garage Sale raised $36,000 for area non-profits. Today, Carleton presented checks in the amount of $12,000 each to representatives of The Northfield Union of Youth, Project Friendship, and Northfield Area Special Olympics.
“We want to extend thanks to everyone who helped organize, sort or shop to make this such a successful event,” says Erica Zweifel, Carleton Center for Community and Civic Engagement (CCCE) Program Coordinator.
This popular event is a joint effort by Carleton’s Center for Community and Civic Engagement and Sustainability Office, along with community partners from The Northfield Union of Youth, Project Friendship, and Northfield Area Special Olympics. Each organization had dedicated over 400 hours of time to prepare for the sale, held June 22-23 in Carleton’s Laird Stadium.
Carleton staff and volunteers transformed Laird Stadium into a showroom full of goods donated by students at the end of the academic year, sorting through the 46,000 pounds of materials collected (not including furniture or bicycles). Unopened food items were donated directly to Northfield’s Community Action Center food shelf. Unsold items were then donated to a variety of local organizations, making Lighten Up! a minimal waste event and diverting thousands of pounds from ending up in landfills.
