Mariann Bonang hears from her clients all the time that they are going to “go to a yard sale and see what they can find.” It’s something they love doing on the weekend.

But what if they had a yard sale themselves?

Mariann is the Senior Services Supervisor for Pine Tree Society’s W.T.Twarog Senior Enrichment Center in Auburn and that’s what she asked herself one day.

What if the seniors could experience first hand the work that goes into having a yard sale? Better still, what if the proceeds from their yard sale went to a cause they believe in? And, even better still, what if the yard sale got them involved and engaged with their community in a new way?

Mariann, her staff and all the seniors in her program decided to hold a yard sale to raise money to send a deserving individual to Pine Tree Camp.

“Some of the seniors attend Pine Tree Camp and they thought it was a wonderful idea.”

Before the year was out, they ended up organizing a yard sale, a craft fair, a car wash and a bake sale.

“It was harder work than I thought,” Mariann recalled. “But each fundraiser we held, we’d count the money and get excited to raise more.”

Every activity the seniors do has a goal in mind.

“With the yard sale, they goal was for them to see what people in their community do to organize a yard sale and experience first hand all the steps that are involved.”

It also gave them a chance to engage with people in their community in a new way and experience a sense of pride in giving back and sharing what they know.

“Some people at our events knew about Pine Tree Camp, but with many of them they were hearing about it for the first time.”

For Mariann, the best part of it all was being able to give Pine Tree Camp a check with all the money they’d raised.

“It made me feel good. It was all a great experience.”