Members of Carriage Lane Presbyterian Church in Peachtree City are accepting donations today until 7 p.m. for their annual Ranch on Jesus yard sale planned for this Friday, Aug. 8, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturday Aug. 9 from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The annual yard sale plays a large part in covering the educational costs of Ugandan children at Ranch on Jesus orphanage.
Donations for the yard sale can be dropped off in the Fellowship Hall through Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Adult clothing should be limited to in-style, gently used items. Flat screen TVs and monitors only will be accepted.
In addition to the yard sale, Kanzi Craft, a fair trade initiative of Pearl Ministries, will have a large assortment of African crafts and jewelry for sale as well.
The annual yard sale started ten years ago when Jamie Rosser, a young college student from Peachtree City, approached her church about helping a group of Ugandan orphans she had met who were sleeping on a dirt floor and receiving one meal a day.
A yard sale was held and over $7000 raised for the orphans. Thus began a long term relationship between Carriage Lane Presbyterian Church in Peachtree City and Ranch on Jesus Orphanage outside Kampala, Uganda. The college student went on to marry a fellow student on the Ugandan trip, Scott Laslo, and together they founded Pearl Ministries which works alongside Ugandans to address the crisis facing Uganda’s orphans and vulnerable children.
The annual yard sales and the generous support of the Carriage Lane family have impacted the futures of hundreds of children through the orphanage and primary school run by Ranch on Jesus.
Each year church members spend an entire week at the end of summer transforming the fellowship hall and Sunday school classrooms into a temporary thrift store. Items are organized, priced and sold at bargain prices over the course of two busy days. But the work is worth it. Since the original sale ten years ago, nearly $100,000 has been raised to help the children at Ranch on Jesus.
“With past sales clearing $13,000 it is possible to help many Ugandan children realize their dreams and work for their futures,” a spokesperson said. “The hope is that by providing opportunity for these children, they will in turn provide for their future families and help break the cycle of poverty trapping many East Africans.”
Carriage Lane Presbyterian Church is located at the corner of Carriage Lane and Ga. Hwy. 54 across from Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Peachtree City.
