Once a year, Beaver Stadium undergoes a fantastic metamorphosis into a sprawling department store.
This Saturday, as part of the Centre County United Way’s annual Trash to Treasure sale, almost everything you can think of (and a few things you can’t) will be on sale inside the stadium.
Furniture and clothes? They got ‘em.
Computers, televisions, printers and alarm clocks? They got ‘em.
But what about cleaning products, ceramic statuettes, fishbowl decorations and full-body monkey costumes?
Yeah, they got those too.
“The year before last we got a sidewalk popcorn stand as one of the donations,” says United Way executive director Tammy Gentzel. “I think that went for $15 dollars. You get some really good deals out there.”
Shoppers can pay $5 at the door from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. to snatch up some the best deals. Admissions is free and open to everyone from 9:00 until things wrap up at 2:00 p.m.
Volunteer coordinator Janda Hankinson has worked with some 200 volunteers over the last two weeks to undertake a seemingly Herculean task: move, sort and make ready for sale 43.7 tons of items collected from Penn State students.
That’s 87,400 pounds.
“I didn’t expect this kind of magnitude,” says volunteer and Penn Stater student Daniela Chavez.
Hankinson first got involved with Trash to Treasure 14 years ago “because of its sustainability side.” In the days before the sale, all those tens of thousands of pounds of stuff would go straight to a landfill.
Now, instead of tossing it all out, Penn State students take whatever they don’t want (or can’t fit into their cars) at the end of the semester and donate it to the United Way.
“We usually clear about $50,000 a year from the sale, and that money helps fund multiple agencies under the United Way umbrella,” Gentzel says.
“That’s helping families become financially stable, it’s helping the poor get access to healthcare, it’s helping people get access to quality education.”
Hankinson says the sale is especially perfect for families looking to outfit their soon-to-be college freshmen with dorm room equipment. After all, everything there just came from a dorm and is on sale for a fraction of its retail value.
As she helped sort donations on Thursday, Chavez was amazed not only the sheer volume of stuff, but also the quality.
“I’m totally going to be here on Saturday,” Chavez says. “I don’t know if I’ll be here early enough to get the really good stuff, though. I saw a brand new Stormtrooper helmet! I’d buy that.”
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