Dear 5th Bridge Pledgers,

Get ready for spring, un-clutter your home, clean out your garage, and support your favorite cause or charity without sapping your budget. Participate in 5th Bridge’s 3rd Annual Goods for Good – The Great Northfield Rummage Raid for Charity! This environmentally friendly, community-building, fund-raising, fun event will be held April 30–May 1, 2010. Last year we had 26 sites participate and raised nearly $10,000 for charitable causes. Wow!

Our goal this year is to increase the number of sites hosting a rummage sale or refreshment stand and we hope to collectively raise $20,000 for charitable causes. As this annual event grows, it has the potential to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for charitable causes in and around our community.

This is a great service and fund-raising opportunity for families, neighborhoods, churches, non-profit organizations, service clubs, Circles of Service, sports teams, school groups, friends, etc. Kids can get involved too by hosting a toy sale or refreshment stand. What a great opportunity to teach your kids the value of service and giving!

5th Bridge will organize the event, help mobilize the site hosts, develop a tool kit to make the project easier, give ideas for sale beneficiaries, create a map with site locations, provide regional promotion, organize a success celebration, and help to coordinate the disposal of leftovers.

Want to learn more about this exciting event? Attend the Goods for Good information session.

Tuesday, March 16
Northfield United Methodist Church (1401 Maple Street)
7–8 p.m.

RSVP to Candy by e-mail or call 507-581-3017. More information is also available on our website. Online enrollment in now available, so please sign up as soon as possible. Deadline to register is April 26, but don’t wait. Register today!

If you want to support this event but don’t have time to organize a sale, then mark your calendars for April 30 and May 1 and plan to shop the great deals at the sales.

Garage sales not your thing? Here are some other great service ideas:

• Volunteers are needed to do spring highway clean-up on three sections of road on the north end of Northfield. 5th Bridge adopted three sections of highway, so groups can participate in this fun and rewarding volunteer project without having to make a long-term commitment. If your group is interested in cleaning up one of the sections this spring, summer or fall, e-mail Candy Taylor, or call 507-581-3017.
• Local student, Sarah Tiano, is trying to raise money and awareness to help children in Afghanistan. She is looking for groups of teens and adults to make bracelets which she then sells as a fundraiser. If you are interested, e-mail sarah.tiano@gmail.com or for more information, see the posting on the 5th Bridge website.
• Mark your calendars! The Cannon Valley Watershed Partners is organizing a massive river clean up project on September 18, 2010 from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Check out the posting for more details.

"I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again."
   - Mahatma Gandhi

Happy volunteering!

Candy Taylor and your friends at 5th Bridge