We had some record attendance days at The Free Market during December as people stopped by to look for all-things-Christmas. Over the course of the month our supply of trees, ornaments, dishes, gift wrap etc. got whittled down to a small stash of festive detritus.
Some of the highlights of the holiday season were:
Our Free Gift Store giveaway at the Grayson Landcare Office was a rousing success! Many people attended, and most of the gifts were taken away.
Donating trees to the Joy Ranch Childrens’ Home for a fundraiser
A photo of a beautifully decorated tree in the home of a woman who hadn’t decorated for Christmas since her husband died. The tree and all the decorations came from The Free Market
A fun holiday celebration with Market volunteers
The past couple of weeks we’ve been busy packing up Christmas items that trickled in after the holidays for next year, along with tidying up The Market.
Our customer numbers continue to climb. In the last quarter of 2019 we had an average of 59 visitors a day. The numbers for people donating and taking items are also up. Unfortunately financial donations were down for the quarter and we’re thinking of ways to remedy the decline.
The next month will see us focused on some more tidying and organizing along with recruiting and training new volunteers.
Special Request: We are exploring the idea of running a Repair Cafe sometime in the spring where volunteers would assist people to fix, rather than throw out, older items. We’d be delighted to hear from anyone with relevant skills. If interested you can contact Free Market manager Jean Roznik by email at [email protected]
Note: We are no longer accepting plastic containers e.g. those used for yogurt, ice cream, sour cream, iced tea etc. We also are not accepting glass jars other than canning jars.