Make and sell? The glory of flea markets and yardsales

I’m wondering if any of the laborers have the skills to make items suitable for sale at a flea market (or yard sale).  I know there is the occasional market (I’ve known of one in Court House, have heard of some as far away as Fredericksburg -here’s a list: http://northernvirginiaantiquesfleamarkets.nova-antiques.com/).  Would there be any items that the laborers or the women may be able to make and sell?  Wooden art pieces? Braided bracelets? Paintings?

Community event

Awhile ago when we first separated into groups to discuss fundraising ideas, I broke out into a stream of consciousness about a wide-eyed plan to promote activism and awareness in the community, and raise funds for our causes.

In a nutshell, I proposed that we put on a community food event with a partnering organization to promote community participation and awareness about the difficulty of  low-income people to obtain food.  The crux of the idea would be that we’d invite a food-collection group, community members, laborers, and willing chefs to donate and/or prepare meals out of canned goods.  The resulting meal could then be shared/purchased by attendees.

The benefits of this type of event are that you are involving all parties.  By asking community members to donate canned goods which are then used in the preparation of a meal, people feel like they have a stake in the outcome.  Plus, they may see, firsthand, some of the laborers who they are helping.

The planning of such an event would doubtless require networking, resources, lots of planning time, and paperwork.  The following are just a few ideas of how we might pull it off: 1) request that a food-collection group such as our neighbor AFAC partner with us on such an event; 2) request that our adventurous friends (whether professional or amateur chefs) serve as chefs for an event; 3) find a site to prepare food and host a live event (I know from experience- a Senegalese cooking class- that Arlington County has cooking facilities in Clarendon for their adult education courses; 4) request promotion of the event by a student cooking group (I found that American University has a cooking class tv show- click on “Dining on a Dime” after accessing http://www.auatv.com/- perhaps they’d be willing to spotlight an event).

Comments welcome.

Imperfect Merchandise

There were a number of items listed on the October 7th meeting agenda that centered upon an expansion of the “goods and services” that SEEC provides for members.  Two of those items focused on clothing, including gloves, caps, coats, and winter clothes.

An idea dawned on me- does anyone know what a textiles manufacturer does with imperfect or defective clothing merchandise?  I know I’ve seen some imperfect clothing for sale at discounted prices in stores, but do any manufacturers donate to charities?

Comments welcome.

Makin’ money off junk

Two thoughts recently passed my mind that, when merged together, create an awesome opportunity.  The first thought involves craigslist.com and the second involves space at the SEEC office.

It dawned on me that there are lots of items on craigslist that people are GIVING away (read: free).  These free giveaways range from furniture and electronics to books and games.  Some are in need of repair whereas others are in good condition.  My thought is that what if we could pick up these pieces and use them.  I see a couple of “uses”.  For those that are broken, if we had the expertise, we could teach the laborers how to fix them.  Then, we could either stop there, content that someone has picked up a new skill or has kept from a state of idlehood.  Or, we could sell the fixed-up piece to raise money.

The keys to this puzzle involve 1) the availability of transportation to pick up these items (especiallyy those items such as furniture that could potentially be large); 2) the availability of space to store and work on items (I seem to recall that the SEEC office has extra space out in back); 3) the expertise and will to instruct others how to fix up items; 4) a market for the finished items (perhaps a website for online sale, a flea market).

:Let me know yout thoughts.