Everything free at Tifton church ‘yard sale’

TIFTON — For the past 16 years, River of Life church in Tifton has held two huge “yard sales” — one in the fall and again in the spring.

The event features everything you would expect at a yard sale: clothes, toys, books, blankets, linens, baby items, kitchen goods, household decor, electronics, perhaps a few pieces of furniture. One thing is missing, however. There are no price tags.

Everything at the River of Life yard sale is free.

“We just never felt that the church should sell anything unless maybe the youth group is raising funds for a mission trip of some sort,” said Tina Gaines, whose husband, Morris, is the church’s pastor.

Morris Gaines also said he believes the church should give back to the community and hosting the free yard sale is one way of doing that.

“The church is suppose to give to the community,” Tina Gaines said. “We take in donations all year long and give them out when there is a need. Normally, the donations build up for the yard sale outreach, but we have helped out when there is a fire or some other crisis. We try to help out and give these donations out anytime anyone needs something.”

The couple held their first yard sale giveaway around 2001, not long after they became pastors of the church.

“Twice we took a U-Haul truck full of donations and went out into some of the more needy neighborhoods and just gave stuff away,” Tina Gaines said.

Nearly all of the community yard sale outreach events have been held at the church where, along with a few volunteers, they sort through donations, set up for the event, run the event and handle the clean-up.

“We want people to know who we are, where we are and what we are about,” Tina Gaines said.

Last spring, about 100 people attended the giveaway. In previous years, Gaines said church volunteers have taken a sound system into the parking lot and had music and guest speakers sharing a message during the event.

The bi-annual church giveaway begins at 8 a.m. on Saturday and continues until lunchtime.

“Normally, everything is gone by noon,” Gaines said. “People start lining up along the street at the break of day, but we have to set up so we hold them back until 8 a.m.”

She added that most people hear about the sale through word-of-mouth, social media or an ad the church runs in the local shopper. One church member hands out flyers at a nearby apartment complex for seniors.

“People come from all over Tifton,” Gaines said. “We get young families, the elderly, a big assortment of people.”

While some contributors donate off-season clothes — most of the fall donations are for winter and the spring donations are for summer. This year there will be plenty of warm clothes, sweaters, coats and blankets.

A small group of volunteers came to the church on Wednesday night to sort through donations and prepare for Saturday’s giveaway.

It was a long night. The donations filled an entire room and spilled out into the church hallway.

“We get donations from the same people every year,” Gaines said. “People like to give. We have one lady who comes in all the way from Cochran.”

Gaines said she expects people will bring donations right up until Saturday morning.

“We welcome more donations,” she said. “There will always be plenty of people who need them.”

Gaines said one year, two young moms needed baby beds, but only one bed was available.

“We get calls and requests for items,” she said. “We also get prayer requests. We have some folks who come out just needing prayer. We have one lady who comes every year and we pray for her son.”

Gaines said the church prayer team will be on site during the event.

River of Life Church is located at 2214 Tyson Ave. in Tifton.