Real People: One person’s junk can help fund community causes

Free shopping: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. March 28-29

7200 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs

Information: 404-396-1054; www.sandyspringssociety.org

Maidee Spencer’s idea of an enjoyable Saturday morning never involved heading out to unfamiliar neighborhoods and sifting through other people’s stuff. Though the Sandy Springs resident is an avid fan of antiques and bargain hunting, yard sales held no allure.

That all changed in 1992 when Spencer, a charter member of the 26-year-old Sandy Springs Society, was recruited to create and oversee the group’s first Tossed Out Treasures fundraiser.

“I had never, ever been to a garage sale,” admits Spencer. “Fortunately, another gal gave me a footprint she’d used for a similar event, and I just followed that.”

What Spencer started has become an annual event to raise money for the group’s causes, and it has mushroomed into a much-anticipated party around treasure hunting through a showroom of donated items.

“Each year, we say there’s no way it will be better, but it always is,” said Spencer. “In the old days, there were a lot of ball gowns, but it’s a sign of the times that we’re now getting more very nice designer clothes. We’ve also had people moving or closing up their beach house who donated everything. We never know what we’re going to get, but it’s always really great stuff.”

When the event began, Spencer and her fellow volunteers scrambled to find a venue. “The first 10 years, we were chewing our nails every year, scouring for an empty space,” she said. “Developers who had space weren’t anxious to commit in January to an event in the spring. There were many times when we pulled it all together in just two weeks.”

Organizing the sale is still a lot of work, Spencer noted. Since the group has no place to store items, she and a crew of fellow volunteers spend most of their time in the weeks before the event collecting donations and setting them in a borrowed showroom on Roswell Road.

“It’s very intense, but I’ve stayed with it because it’s a good thing on many, many levels,” she said. “We get to clean our closets, for one. And while doing what seems like mindless work to get it all set up, we get to know each other very well, and that’s important since we’re a bigger organization than we were 20 years ago.”

But Spencer’s primary reason for getting behind the event is its connection back to the community.

“This is something that’s open to the community and benefits it at the same time,” she said. “Last year, we raised close to $50,000 that we gave back to community causes. We don’t retain anything. Our junk winds up helping the community one way or the other.”