GeneroCity Market: What is it and How can I Help?

The 2014 / 2015 Tour is over and the kids are safe at home in Uganda, but the work to bring our next choir continues. That is why our staff will be participating in an event called the GeneroCity Market. The event will take place on Saturday, May 2. Located at 35 Old Canton Street, in the parking lots between The 410 Bridge and Rivers Academy, the Market will be open from 8 am – 4 pm, overlapping with the Alpharetta Farmers Market.

In order for this event to be a success, we need your help. The goal of the GeneroCity Market is to raise awareness & funds for local nonprofits. Obviously it would be awesome to see all of you come out and join us on May 2, shop at the Market, and hang out with the organizations who will be at the event*. But for us to have goods to sell, we need people like you to donate your stuff!

The idea is simple. Here’s a four step explanation of how GeneroCity Market works:

1. Choose possessions in your home to donate to our cause. Ideal items are things like furniture pieces, musical instruments, tools, and electronics in good condition.

No item will be sold for less than $40, so we’re not talking about yard sale items or stuff you would donate to Goodwill during your spring cleaning. GeneroCity Market will not accept donations of goods such as clothing, VHS tapes, DVDs, knick-knacks, and books.

2. Join GeneroCity Market’s event page on Facebook. This page will be updated with items being donated, information about the event, and easy-to-share content for inviting your friends to the Market.

3. Drop off your donation item(s). Donation drop offs will be on Thursday, April 30, and Friday, May 1, at a location in Alpharetta (times and exact location coming soon). When you drop off your item, please be sure to have it tagged as being sold to support Daraja Children’s Choir, to ensure we receive the funds from your sold item.

You will receive a record of your tax-deductible donation from Daraja Choir following the event; so when you bring your items to the drop off point, be sure to leave your information and the estimated value of your donated item.

4. People come buy your stuff and we get the $$. We call it Shopping for GOODness sake!

Stumped for ideas of what you could donate? Here are some tips for looking around your home with fresh eyes:

• Check your garage. Is there a tool you only use once every five years, that you could borrow from a friend next time the need arises?
• Been clinging to a musical instrument since middle school, thinking you might pick it up again? There’s a whole generation of young musicians waiting for their chance to bring that instrument back to life.
• Upgraded your sports gear, but holding on to the old stuff “just in case?” Beginners love buying good-condition, used equipment like skis, snowboards, tennis rackets, and camping gear.
• Bought new furniture and planning to move the current set downstairs to the basement for lounging? Donate it instead! The kids can spend a little longer watching tv on that bent up old futon.
• Are you an electronics or stereo nerd and have a closet full of extra monitors, receivers, towers, and woofers you have swapped for bigger and better equipment? Clear some space and give them new life in someone else’s home entertainment system.
• Have a game console that competes for the time you should be spending doing other things? Earn bonus points with your wife and send it our way.

If you have any questions about donating an item to GeneroCity Market, please drop a note or call Elisa Allred at 443-350-6180 OR Elisa@410bridge.org.

* Participating organizations include the 410 Bridge, Canopy Life, Choose to Invest, Clothe Your Neighbor as Yourself, Daraja Choir, JustOneAfrica, Kazi Market, Kula Project, and Wellspring Living!