UPDATE: Admiral Junction Community Garage Sale raises $5,600 for American Red Cross in Japan
UPDATE: Admiral Junction Community Garage Sale raises $5,600 for American Red Cross in Japan
Emiko Keller and Ikumi Bell, pictured L-R, helped Shelley and Gary Lebert run the community garage sale over the weekend near the Admiral Junction. Money raised benefits the American Red Cross for Japan relief. Keller and Bell are Japanese-born friends who live in West Seattle and Burien, respectively. They have worked in the West Seattle Family YMCA for 10 years. Keller was raised near Nagoya, and Bell was raised in Sendai, Japan, the nearest city to the earthquake. Her family was safe. She initially found their names through Google before the phones worked.
Photos by Steve Shay
Mon, 04/04/2011
Thank You West Seattle for your generosity and compassion; you've done it again! Our West Seattle Community Garage Sale ( 3014 45th Ave S.W) raised three times the amount we expected, for our Friends in Japan, affected by the earthquake and tsunami. Thank you West Seattle Herald reporter, Steve Shay, for all your expertise in advertising, photographing, and donating to this event:
http://www.westseattleherald.com/2011/04/02/news/update-2-help-japan-to…
Not only do we thank all our generous and enthusiastic neighbors who donated and bought items (including little 6 year-old Naziah Hendrix, who donated her Leap Frog Computer and games), but to all the volunteers who worked three straight days to make this not only a successful, but fun community event. Local teens ran the bake sale (bringing in $700.00 alone in goodies they, and other neighbors made), while volunteers from the neighborhood worked in pouring rain to set up all the garage sale items!
What a success...$4,600.00 from a little garage sale with another $1,000.00 coming in from a matching company! The people in Japan would be so happy if they only knew the love, compassion, and hard work of both kids and adults that went into this.
Emiko and Jeff Keller fed the workers home-made sushi and rice balls and Lori Braseth donated tents and tarps to keep everyone dry. What a contagious group effort this was! Once again, thank you to all of you who helped to ease the suffering of our friends in Japan, through your kindness and generosity.
Shelley and Gary Lebert
Garage Sale coordinators
