Church event helps bolster joy of giving

As Kathy Whiteman walked from the Unity Church of Truth parking lot with a box full of flashcards, books and a small lamp, she hadn’t made it but a few yards before Lorraine McMillan stopped her.

The small brass lamp Whiteman brought as a donation for the church’s Sacred Rubble: Unloaded event was on its way to one of about two dozen tables filled with free items.

The lamp, roughly a half-foot tall, would be the perfect addition to the back porch of McMillan’s country home near Cheney.

“I just need a little one,” said McMillan, 76, who took the lamp from Whiteman on the spot. “It’ll be nice, a step up.”

Getting rid of unneeded items that could benefit others was the purpose of Sacred Rubble: Unloaded, which ran from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. After having huge rummage sales that brought in more than $10,000 each of the past seven years, the church decided to go back to an old tradition of offering up items at no cost.

Members of the church called Saturday “Circulation Day,” which Whiteman summed up best.

“To donate, to give, to share, to bring abundance to our lives,” she said. “Because when you circulate, you let the old out and have room for the new to come.”

Many of the countless items – there were skis, toys, couches, plates, clothes, a ping-pong table – were donated by the church’s 350 congregants. Donating is what Senior Minister Clare Austen called “flow,” a process that allows both the giver and receiver to increase their sense of prosperity.

“Our main goal was to give without any expectation of return,” Austen said.

But return they did, through donations to the church and three other organizations on hand: Second Harvest Food Bank, SpokAnimal Care and Volunteers of America.

“People are getting what they need and are able to give what they want,” noted Tony Allison, an employee of Volunteers of America.

Unity Church member Linda Wileman took the opportunity to donate a total of $100 to each of the four organizations, something she otherwise wouldn’t have time to do.

“In a busy life, I just handle what I handle,” said Wileman, 55. “I want to donate but it just doesn’t get done.”

Others came to the church on Saturday just by accident, but on a mission nonetheless.

“I go to garage sales all the time, and I saw the lot was filled, so naturally the car just drove into the driveway,” said Spokane resident Mary Birgenheier as she browsed for items for her children and grandchildren.

Empty bags sat next to each table, allowing shoppers an easy way to take home their new-found belongings.

But George Briggs, 24, couldn’t find bags big enough – or strong enough – for his stuff.

It took a red and gray Ford F-150.

Briggs and Michelle Smith, 24, snatched up two couches, a coffee table and a classic Macintosh computer.

“I think it’s cool, man,” Briggs said. “We just moved into a house yesterday and we didn’t have anything.”

Now, they do. And the cost?

“Free,” Briggs said. “You can’t beat that.”