62nd annual Child & Family Agency tag sale begins in New London
New London — Cars lined the streets surrounding the New London Armory on Thursday morning as residents from near and far flocked to the first day of the Child & Family Agency of Southeastern Connecticut's 62nd annual tag sale.
The three-day sale is billed as one of the largest and longest running in New England — something with which Sandra Mansfield of Groton agrees.
"I love coming here," Mansfield declared while flipping through clothes folded neatly on a table. "I've been coming for over 30 years. It is the greatest sale ever."
She first learned of the sale, she said, when a friend at the gym told her about it more than three decades ago.
"I used to get a babysitter just so I could come here and fill up a bag to bring home to my kids," Mansfield said, adding that she also has donated in the past and loves "supporting a good cause."
Many of the customers weaving in and out of the armory's rooms, browsing through everything from lacrosse sticks to piñatas and hailing from as far away as New Hampshire and New Jersey, expressed similar sentiments.
First-time visitors Pamela Benson and Chad Gaudette of Niantic, for example, came after learning of the sale from a friend because it "seemed like a good cause," Gaudette said.
"It's not like we needed a whole lot of stuff, but we figured why not go and see if we can grab a couple things and pitch in?" he said.
The annual tag sale is one of the agency's largest fundraisers, according to Lynn Fairfield-Sonn, director of development and community relations for the nonprofit.
The funds raised aren't restricted like many grant and government monies are.
That means the money can be put toward maintaining the agency's general services rather than being allotted, for example, to one specific program.
"That's huge," Fairfield-Sonn said. "Particularly in times of state budget difficulties. Any funds we raise here are such a huge help."
But it's not only Child & Family Agency that benefits, she said.
At the end of Saturday, the sale's third and final day, Child & Family Agency asks other nonprofits to come in and take anything they can use.
Whatever's left after that is sent to Goodwill and the Salvation Army.
"It's a gift that keeps on giving and no one profits from it," Fairfield-Sonn said. "It all goes to the nonprofit world."
Fairfield-Sonn stressed the importance of the collaboration that goes into putting on the event.
About 670 volunteers, as well as members of Rogovin Moving and Storage Co. Inc., Cross Road Rent-A-Space and the U.S. Navy pull together each year to make sure everything goes smoothly, she said.
"The generosity of the community is overwhelming," Fairfield-Sonn said. "We really have to thank our volunteers at Child & Family Agency, our donors and our Navy volunteers because, without them, none of this would happen."
What: Child & Family Agency of Southeastern Connecticut's 62nd annual tag sale
When: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday
Where: New London Armory, 249 Bayonet St.
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.