The George Washington Carver Community Center is holding a rummage sale in Three Rivers this Saturday, October 3, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and will take place at the center’s location at 436 Jefferson Street. The center’s driveway is on Fifth Street. Proceeds will benefit the organization’s work, which focuses on youth mentorship, community building, and other activities.
“We are looking to collect donated valuables to sell as a fundraiser to support the Carver Center and the community. If you have something that you would like to donate, please contact us,” organizers said on the event’s Facebook page. Some of the items that will be available include women’s and toddler’s clothing, purses, shoes, and home goods, but there are also other items, and the center is welcoming donations.
Saturday’s event is the latest in a series of sales, cookouts, mobile health clinic appearances from Covered Bridge Healthcare, and other events that the center has held this year to benefit its programs by raising funds and building awareness and membership.
Earlier in the event series, during a late July barbecue fundraiser, Carver Center President and City Commissioner Carolyn McNary said the Center’s membership is looking to bring new life to the organization. The center, a Fourth District community anchor, promotes service activities and serves as a gathering place. It has a long history of community involvement dating back to the 1940s. “It’s a community center, and it’s owned by the membership. They created this space because back then, Blacks weren’t welcome in other places,” McNary said in July.
Today the center identifies as a multicultural space. “What I see now is we need something consistent. We need something that people say, ‘oh yeah, on Monday, I’m going to go over here,’” McNary said.
At the same July event, Eddie Neal, another Carver Center member and volunteer, encouraged donations to the Center. “If you do so, we really would appreciate it, because that goes toward helping keep this community center alive. I don’t know if anybody realizes, but all of the community centers in Three Rivers are closed now except for this one. The diversity is one thing we want, but we want everybody to understand that this place is for everyone to use.”
Dave Vago is a writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.
