The Great Canadian Community Garage Sale in Parksville raised in excess of $6,000 toward relief efforts in Japan and more is trickling in.
Scarlette Lexington, founder of the Passion for Compassion Project Group that hosted the Wembley Mall sale over the April 1 weekend said they received a lot of good donations from residents, businesses and schools throughout Oceanside.
More than 25 people volunteered for some portion of the three-day sale and she said the community response was huge with a crowd lined up out the door when they opened.
The sale included a silent auction, 50/50 draw, bake sale, Japanese culture and information table and “Support Japan 2011” T-shirts for sale.
The T-shirts were donated by Victoria’s MegaScreen Productions with the net proceeds going directly to the Japanese Red Cross.
All of the rest of the money raised — including $2,500 from the sale of a local couple’s mini-van — is going to the Canadian Red Cross and CareCanada.
More than 13,000 people have been confirmed dead in the earthquake-tsunami-nuclear triple disaster and more than 12,000 are still missing a month later. The Japanese government has estimated the total cost could surpass $300 billion in one of the countries hardest hit by the recent recession.
Anyone interested in donating, volunteering or buying one of the remaining T-shirts can e-mail the group at passionforcompassion@live.ca.