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For 11 years, a garage sale has brought a community together.

Kathy Schumacher, Underwriting service assistant in Charlottesville, Va., started the garage sale with then coworker Darlene Lyons. Darlene had a friend who was homebound and needed a lot of help, which she received through the local Meals on Wheels program. So, Darlene decided to raise money to benefit the organization.

They didn’t want to just fundraise, they wanted to provide an event.

The Fluvanna (County) Meals on Wheels Garage Sale was created as a way to not only fundraise, but to provide an opportunity for people to donate goods they no longer needed. Someone’s trash is another’s treasure, as they say.

“We collect donated items at our houses and then take them to where we are hosting the sale. We clean, restore, price, organize and sort everything,” Kathy said.

Kathy has used a week of her paid time off to organize and manage the garage sale every year, and every year she invites her State Farm^® colleagues to volunteer with her.

“When I saw the email that we got a second CSES (Community Service and Education Support) team day, I made sure to mention that to my coworkers in all divisions – production, call center, Underwriting. Every year, the sale gets bigger and bigger so we can use all the hands we can get.”

“Kathy saw the opportunity for people to do two days. She started building buzz around the office and was able to get people who had not used the CSES,” said Sabrina Morris, Underwriting support supervisor. “One employee said they would have not used the CSES day because volunteering can be intimidating by yourself, but this person was able to pair up with someone they knew and volunteer together. It encouraged more employees to do it.”

Kathy said 24-28 State Farm colleagues volunteered in 2019 for the nine-hour day, helping to raise $17,750, plus a Good Neighbor Grant® Team Program application provided another $500.

Sabrina accepted Kathy’s invitation to volunteer for the first time.

“It was a really welcoming environment,” Sabrina said. “It was nice to be there with people you knew. You were volunteering, but it felt less like volunteering and more like doing something good with people you enjoy being around.”

“It is such a positive environment. Everyone is so happy and wants to reach the same goal,” Kathy added. “The team day did a lot because you were able to get to know somebody you see, but can’t talk to them, such as at the call center.”

And it all comes back to what the mission is – help seniors receive nourishment and interactions they may not get otherwise.

“It’s just something I believe in. No one should be alone and no one should go without food,” Kathy said.

Kathy Schumacher, a State Farm^® employee in Charlottesville, Va., started the garage sale with then coworker Darlene Lyons. Darlene had a friend who was homebound and needed a lot of help, which she received through the local Meals on Wheels program. So, Darlene decided to raise money to benefit the organization.

They didn’t want to just fundraise, they wanted to provide an event.

The Fluvanna (County) Meals on Wheels Garage Sale was created as a way to not only fundraise, but to provide an opportunity for people to donate goods they no longer needed. Someone’s trash is another’s treasure, as they say.

“We collect donated items at our houses and then take them to where we are hosting the sale. We clean, restore, price, organize and sort everything,” Kathy said.

Kathy has used a week of her paid time off to organize and manage the garage sale every year, and every year she invites her State Farm colleagues to volunteer with her.

“Every year, the sale gets bigger and bigger so we can use all the hands we can get.”

Kathy said 24-28 State Farm colleagues volunteered in 2019 for the nine-hour day, helping to raise $17,750, plus a Good Neighbor Grant^® Team Program application provided another $500.

Sabrina Morris accepted Kathy’s invitation to volunteer for the first time.

“It was a really welcoming environment,” Sabrina said. “It was nice to be there with people you knew. You were volunteering, but it felt less like volunteering and more like doing something good with people you enjoy being around.”

“It is such a positive environment. Everyone is so happy and wants to reach the same goal,” Kathy added. “The team day did a lot because you were able to get to know somebody you see, but can’t talk to them, such as at the call center.”

And it all comes back to what the mission is – help seniors receive nourishment and interactions they may not get otherwise.

“It’s just something I believe in. No one should be alone and no one should go without food,” Kathy said.

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After being displaced by Hurricane Michael in 2018 and having a lousy holiday, 3-year-old Bridges and his mother, Christie, were due for a positive experience.

And this Christmas had all the signs of being a good one.

Christie had saved and bought Bridges new toys and clothes. She was excited to surprise him on Christmas morning. As part of the holiday spirit, she encouraged him to gather up toys he had outgrown to give to charity.

New and old, everything was locked in Christie’s car overnight to keep Bridges’ curiosity at bay.

Then the unimaginable happened.

Thieves broke into Christie’s car and took everything as part of a burglary spree in her neighborhood. Christie was distraught and heartbroken.

She had renter’s insurance and called State Farm Claims. The record of her call showed up in Agent Lad Drago’s office in Spanish Fort, Ala.

Agent Team Members Rebecca Grizzle and Cat Holladay saw the claim first that morning.

“It immediately pulled at our heart strings,” Cat says. “Because her deductible exceeded the value of the items stolen, we couldn’t help from an insurance standpoint, but we still wanted to do something.”

With Lad’s permission, Cat and Rebecca pooled their money and asked other agent team members if they wanted to donate. The pair went shopping over their lunch hour and that evening, wrapped the gifts at home that night and brought them back to the office the next morning.

The next day, Rebecca called and told her they had a few questions about the break-in and asked her to stop by the office.

“She came to the office that morning and brought Bridges with her,” Cat says. “We sat her down, and Lad told her all the gifts under the tree were for Bridges. She broke down crying right there in the chair. She kept saying over and over about how no one had ever done anything like that for her.”

“It made my holiday season that we could do this for her,” Rebecca says. “Her face was so full of gratitude.”

“I know I have a great team,” Lad says. “But it was a reminder of how much they care about customers and people in general.”

And this Christmas had all the signs of being a good one.

Christie had saved and bought Bridges new toys and clothes. She was excited to surprise him on Christmas morning. As part of the holiday spirit, she encouraged him to gather up toys he had outgrown to give to charity.

New and old, everything was locked in Christie’s car overnight to keep Bridges’ curiosity at bay.

Then the unimaginable happened.

Thieves broke into Christie’s car and took everything as part of a burglary spree in her neighborhood. Christie was distraught and heartbroken.

She had renter’s insurance and called State Farm Claims. The record of her call showed up in Agent Lad Drago’s office in Spanish Fort, Ala.

Agent Team Members Rebecca Grizzle and Cat Holladay saw the claim first that morning.

“It immediately pulled at our heart strings,” Cat says. “Because her deductible exceeded the value of the items stolen, we couldn’t help from an insurance standpoint, but we still wanted to do something.”

With Lad’s permission, Cat and Rebecca pooled their money and asked other agent team members if they wanted to donate. The pair went shopping over their lunch hour and that evening, wrapped the gifts at home that night and brought them back to the office the next morning.

The next day, Rebecca called Christie and invited her and Bridges to stop by the office.

“She came to the office that morning and brought Bridges with her,” Cat says. “We sat her down, and Lad told her all the gifts under the tree were for Bridges. She broke down crying right there in the chair. She kept saying over and over about how no one had ever done anything like that for her.”

“It made my holiday season that we could do this for her,” Rebecca says. “Her face was so full of gratitude.”

“I know I have a great team,” Lad says. “But it was a reminder of how much they care about customers and people in general.”