Tiger Treasures supports local, national charities

About 18 tons of material was raised this year.

By Jason Brynsvold

Published June 3, 2009

About 2,300 people braved rainy weather Saturday morning to attend the third annual Tiger Treasures rummage sale, an event that raises money for local and national charities.

Tiger Treasures takes donations of gently used goods from students in a series of collection bins located in residence halls and Greek houses near the end of the school year. Tiger Treasures coordinator Steve Burdic said the event was an effort to reduce waste produced by students throwing away unwanted materials. The event raised 18 tons of material this year, a comparable number to the previous two years of the sale.

"When students move out they are in a hurry so they just throw stuff away, which is a waste of resources," Burdic said.

According to the Tiger Treasures Web site, the event helps local residents find deals on items such as electronics, bedding, furniture, appliances and athletic equipment.

"The folks that come in here are getting a good deal, they are probably paying about 10 cents on the dollar," Burdic said.

Janet Moreland, MU Landscape Services executive staff assistant, said about 800 people came to the early bird portion of the event, an increase from previous years. Running from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m., the early bird portion required attendees to pay $5 to have a chance to buy items within the first hour of the Tiger Treasures sale.

Columbia resident Anthony Evans was the first person in line for the sale, arriving at 10 p.m. Friday night to secure his spot in front. Evans said his previous experiences with Tiger Treasures helped his decision to come early this year.

"I came here last year to buy electronics but by the time I got in there were none left," Evans said. "This year I decided that it was better to be safe rather than sorry."

Local charities also take part in the rummage sale, each of them sending representatives to help organize items and set up the event in the days leading up to the sale and to work during the actual sale.

"Each agency that is involved has someone here representing them," said Damon Young, a volunteer on the day of the event and the assistant development director for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Burdic said the profits from the sale are split up among the charities based on the number of man-hours worked by each charity for the event.

According to the Tiger Treasures Web site, students not involved with charities were still able to help the sale by collecting, sorting, pricing and selling items from May 11 to May 30. Tiger Treasures volunteer coordinator Denise Gilmore said there were more than 100 volunteers present on the day of the sale. Graduate student Ben Christ was one of the student volunteers on the day of the sale.

Christ, who heard of the volunteer opportunity through his honors fraternity, said, "It just sounded like something good to be involved with."