For 51 years, the Carbondale Hunger Sale has helped Southern Illinois residents turn donated clothing, furniture, toys, tools, books and household items into support for people facing hunger.
Sale manager Katie Carl said the event addresses a need that is not always visible.
“Hunger can be invisible,” Carl said. “We can see homelessness. We spend time trying to solve that complicated problem, but you can be housed and hungry, and you can be employed and hungry.”
The annual sale will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 1 and 2 at the former Old Navy location in the Carbondale Mall. Proceeds support soup kitchens, food pantries, programs for children, programs for the elderly, shelters and other organizations helping people in need.
“Any place that feeds people, we want to help keep our community well and safe,” Carl said.
The sale is organized by Church Women United of Carbondale, part of a national organization with more than 1,200 chapters. Carl said the Carbondale chapter includes about 20 member churches, though not every volunteer is affiliated with a church.
More than 200 volunteers help make the sale possible each year. Volunteers sort donations, move furniture, organize shelves and tables, and prepare the space for shoppers.
Carl, who is retired, said the sale gives her a way to use skills she developed during her career.
“As a teacher, I developed some classroom management skills and some organizational skills,” Carl said. “As a retiree, it feels great to use them for such an amazing cause.”
She said the volunteers are one of the reasons the event continues to succeed.
“These are just the best people you will ever meet,” Carl said. “Most people who have done it once, they come back and they bring friends and family.”
Nan Gher of Murphysboro, who represents Epiphany Lutheran Church and Church Women United, has volunteered with the sale for about 31 years, making her one of the event’s longest-serving volunteers.
Gher said the purpose of the sale keeps her involved.
“The food deficiencies in this country are so appalling,” Gher said. “I feel like it’s a very good cause.”
She said the volunteer community also keeps her coming back year after year.
“These are just wonderful women to work with,” Gher said. “We have such a good time together. Everyone is so pleasant, and it’s a very diverse group.”
Gher said the sale has drawn volunteers from different churches, backgrounds and cultures. She said the sale also needs younger volunteers to help keep the tradition going.
Jan Womack, a five-year volunteer also from Epiphany Lutheran Church, said the sale gives people a practical way to help others.
“It’s a good way for people to pass on what they don’t need to people who do need it,” Womack said. “And I think that’s important for all of us.”
Womack said the event depends on both volunteers and community donations.
“There would be no Hunger Sale without all these volunteers,” Womack said. “If we didn’t have all these wonderful people that donated, we wouldn’t have anything to sell.”
The sale includes women’s clothing, shoes, home decor, holiday items, furniture, toys, children’s items, tools, books, media, puzzles and a silent auction with higher-end items.
Carl said the variety of donations can be surprising.
“There used to be an old saying, everything but the kitchen sink,” Carl said. “But we’ve actually had a kitchen sink donated.”
Womack said the sale can also help people directly during the event.
“Last year, one of the volunteers brought in a young man who was struggling, and we outfitted him top to toe,” Womack said.
For more than five decades, the Carbondale Hunger Sale has brought volunteers, churches and community members together to help fight hunger in Southern Illinois.
Those interested in volunteering can message the Carbondale Hunger Sale Facebook page or email [email protected].
