First United Methodist church to sell thousands of items as it nears fundraising goal
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POCATELLO — As a nearly seven-decade-old methodist congregation nears an ambitious fundraising goal, they’re holding an event they hope will move the campaign significantly closer to becoming fully-funded.
The First United Methodist Church is holding a “Flash Sale” on Saturday from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the church building, 200 North 15th Avenue. The sale will include a silent auction, a raffle, a bake sale and a rummage sale, which will see “thousands” of used home goods on sale for a reasonable price.
“I would say that our selection right now rivals any thrift store in town,” said Pastor Mike Conner. “If you love a good yard sale, if you love silent auctions, the stuff that’s here is quality stuff.”
The building where the congregation gathers every Sunday has been in need of serious repairs for years, the most immediate being a new roof to replace its leaky current one. The church started its “Raise the Roof” campaign at the beginning of the summer, with the goal of raising $360,000 dollars. As the end of summer draws near, the campaign is nearly 77% funded, with a total of around $287,000 raised.
Not only does the church’s congregation meet there, but Tender Loving Care, which operates independently of the church, runs its daycare in the building as well. The building has also hosted community events like the Ukrainian Cultural Festival, the “Love Grows Here” Interfaith concert and the Highland High School Senior Choir concert, which is why Conner calls the building a “community asset.”
While he doesn’t think the Flash Sale will put them at or over their funding goal, “I’m willing to be surprised,” Conner said.
“This is coming at the tail end of our process and there’s been such a good energy around it,” Conner said. “I hope at the very least it provides some momentum and some even broader community awareness to help us reach that goal.”
Conner isn’t sure exactly how many items will be on sale in the rummage sale, but the congregation has filled up the gymnasium with “thousands” of home good products, donated by church members and others from the community.
“We scheduled it for this weekend because of people coming back in town for school. We’ve got nice stuff and we’re trying to price it fairly so that people who need things can get them,” Conner said.
The silent auction will see around 50 things up for grabs, including a two-day trip in a private cabin in Driggs, gift baskets, original art from local artists a brand-new camp stove and more. Raffle tickets will go for $10, and it will feature items like a new laptop, more gift baskets, and plenty of gift certificates, including one worth $100 for the Sandpiper.
The church has already made its first payment for the repaired roof, so the church is on track to have its roof replaced in September. At this point, Conner said that people who participate in the Flash Sale and make further donations are helping the congregation to not be burdened with a large loan.
“When you’re managing a loan on top of your general budget, that can be really heavy in taxing for a congregation,” Conner said.
Replacing the degraded roof will not be the end of improvements made to the building. Conner also wants to improve the parts of the building used by Tender Loving Care.
“We have so many dreams and ideas about how to make the daycare spaces better, to modernize them, make them accessible, make them beautiful, make them functional for the next 50 years,” Conner said.