Announcing: The EHD Epic Rummage Sale!!!

***UPDATE! The sale will end when the inventory is gone. The good stuff WILL go early! We suggest getting there by NOON as we might be packing up by 1pm. See you Saturday!

Remember back in November when I wrote a post asking about how I could get myself, my family, and my company more involved with service projects? We’ll we’ve been trying to work on that, and then I thought – wait, why don’t we start with something that I already know would work? Our annual studio sale is always PACKED with awesome stuff and even more awesome people (you, our readers) who are excited to give happy new homes to stuff we can no longer store, or have used in shoots too many times, or just don’t need.

So what if we put on an even bigger, better studio sale and found a non-profit to partner with who would get 100% of the profits from the sale? And what if we didn’t just sell extra pieces and clothing that the EHD team has bursting out of their garages and closets, but asked some of our favorite friends and partners to donate too? That means a lot more awesome stuff to sell, and a lot more money to be raised. THEN we were like, well some of YOU have to have some great things you no longer need that you’d love to donate too, so let’s open it up to anyone in the Los Angeles area.

Because if we can try to cultivate a culture of service then we are not only benefiting ourselves, the non-profit, its beneficiaries, but also creating a place where people can be a part of the service culture (thus making it bigger, more powerful and hopefully more contagious)

Thus, the EHD Rummage Sale was born. It’s a flea market + service project in one highly energetic fun day.

But let’s be honest, this is a pretty big concept for a team of people (the EHD crew) who are already maxed out on bandwidth most of the time. So we had to look outside our office for a little extra help. And we found some really, really good help.

First let’s introduce Pen & Napkin, the non-profit we’re teaming up with for this epic sale. It’s always been a dream of mine to start a non-profit that works with big companies (like Target) to put unsold inventory in the homes of people who actually need and want it. Remember the shelter? But running a non-profit is a whole other job to manage and with the kids as little as they are I’m just not there yet. But Catie, who had the exact same idea, actually quit her job designing high-end furniture for corporations to start Pen & Napkin.

When they reached out I knew they were the perfect people to team up with for this sale. Pen & Napkin is a non-profit that fully furnishes homes for families who are transitioning out of homelessness. When we met last week, Catie told me that thousands of people transition out of homelessness and move into homes or apartments with no furniture. That means there is usually just a mattress on the floor. And 50% of these people find themselves homeless again within 1 year. BUT, almost 100% of people who transition into homes that are furnished do NOT become homeless again. I’m not in any way a psychologist, nor have I done extensive study into data on homeless transitions, but to me that means there is probably a strong link between having the things so many of us consider basic (like a couch, a bed frame, or a dining table) and the mindset it helps create for someone who hasn’t had those things.

When Catie heard that statistic she knew that’s where she wanted to start. She and Ellyn have fully furnished 54 homes now, through Pen & Napkin. Needless to say, they have the non-profit game locked down, and we couldn’t be more excited to be working with and learning from them.

Next, let’s introduce the venue.

We knew that a sale this big couldn’t happen in our office so we needed a dope venue. Enter The Ruby Street, a seriously beautiful venue in Highland Park, owned by Zach and Lourdes.

This renovated church is now an airy, bright, and modern space. It looks like the perfect spot for an intimate wedding, small conference, creative workshop, or even a non-profit rummage sale (lucky us, right?). Look at this place…

So obviously we’re PSYCHED that The Ruby Street is donating their venue for the day, and can’t wait for you to all come see it in person while you shop (OR volunteer, more on that below).

Lastly, we need to introduce our new best friend Gina, because this girl has her stuff together. Like I said, we’re pretty tapped out in terms of free hands over here, plus no one in the office has any real experience pulling together a big event like this. Doing something this big takes insurance forms being filled out, people being contacted, schedules being drafted, and a big checklist to make sure it all gets done. Gina, on the other hand, does this every day. She’s a full-time production design studio coordinator, so when production companies or studios have to get rid of props and furniture from sets she’s the one who organizes the whole thing. Plus she was a wedding planner before that (god bless her). Did I mention that she’s the perfect person for this job? She reached out and said she was willing to organize the whole thing, and after seeing her resume I couldn’t say ‘yes’ fast enough. So, THANK YOU Gina.

Now here are the details I know you’re all dying for.

When: This sale is happening Saturday, March 3rd,

Where: The Ruby Street, in Highland Park (6408 Ruby Street, Los Angeles 90042).

What time: The sale is going to start at 9am and go until 4pm (unless we sell out earlier than that). Early birds can come at 8am (see below on how you become an early bird)

What we need: Anything gently used or new that you don’t need. Despite the fact that it seems like we don’t care about the waste that photos shoots create WE DO, so this is our chance to give our stuff to a non-profit who will give those items to someone who needs them or sell them thus enabling them to buy even more. For this sale we are only selling items that can fit in a car – aka no large pieces of furniture. But if you have those please email Catie and Ellen directly at catie@penandnapkin.org and they can arrange pickup. Those items will likely go straight into a home in need.

Who: YOU, US, EVERYONE.

In the spirit of us all cultivating service together we need not only stuff, but people.

If you want to donate items to the sale OR volunteer your time the day before or day of the sale then you can get an ‘early bird’ ticket and come shop the sale from 8-9am. Plus we’re going to have a food truck, and games for kids (but no supervision, so shop first and then stick around to grab some lunch and play with your children in the awesome and totally fenced in back area of the venue).

If you want to donate you can come to the venue the evening before to drop off your goods and help organize a bit. We’re looking for clothes, home goods, art, books, etc. All in excellent/good condition. It could even be a lotion you got for Christmas that you never opened. ANYTHING that you would buy at a garage sale, basically but nothing broken. Again, any larger pieces of furniture can be coordinating and picked up directly by Pen and Napkin prior to the sale and will not be at the sale.

And if you want to volunteer the day before or the day-of please email us at giveback@emilyhendersondesign.com. Gina is going be managing that email and coordinating all the details.

It’s really going to be a perfect day, and we can’t wait to see who shows up and I’m so excited to see how much money we can raise for Pen and Napkin, and thus how many lives can be changed.

But also, seriously – have you ever been to the studio sale? I’ll go ahead and say that we have good sales full of GREAT things. Target has already donated so many awesome pieces left over from the spa event we threw. If you are a company who has goods from last season or samples, we’d welcome those pieces and I’ll give call-outs on social and the next blog post about you. Also obviously any other bloggers or designers can get in this action. Pen and Napkin are a registered 501 non-profit and they can give you a proper tax write-off.

It’s all about using the power of social media and this blog for good, and I think this is going to be SOOOOOO GOOOOD.

Who is coming????