It’s Christmas in June at the 630 CHED Santas Anonymous summer sale

This year, you can kick off your summer with some Christmas spirit thanks to the first ever Santa & Friends Summer Garage Sale for 630 CHED Santas Anonymous.

Every year, the goal for Santas Anonymous is to ensure every child in Edmonton wakes up on Christmas morning to a present under the tree. Thanks to generous donations, they provide gifts to more than 25,000 children every year. And this year, the Santa & Friends Summer Garage Sale will make use of the generous donations that were, for some reason, “ungiftable.”

“This stuff has been sitting in Santas warehouse for anywhere from last Christmas to up to two years,” Santas executive director Lana Nordlund said. “We need to turn it into cash so that we can buy toys and books for the ages we most require, usually the older kids.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "This stuff has been sitting in Santas warehouse for anywhere from last Christmas to up to two years," Santas executive director Lana Nordlund said. "We need to turn it into cash so that we can buy toys and books for the ages we most require, usually the older kids."

Santas elves don’t take summer break, so they’ve been hard at work preparing to launch the event on Saturday at the Jerry Forbes Centre.

“Everything is priced to go; I can’t say that enough!”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Everything is priced to go; I can't say that enough!"

Also among the variety of “ungiftable” items to browse, are gently used office furniture, small appliances and toys which require a console or computer to play.

The sale will go on rain or shine, and there will be plenty to do besides getting an early start on your Christmas shopping.

View image in full screen

“It’s going to be fantastic,” Nordlund said. “We are indoors, so don’t worry about getting wet if it happens to rain. One of our neighbours here at the centre, Community Options, is holding a charity barbecue. We’ll also have a band playing, there’ll be some music so you can have something to listen to while you have your snack.”

The Summer Sale will also feature a recycling station for small electronics.

“The proceeds from that will come to 630CHED Santas Anonymous so we can turn that into dollars to purchase toys that we really need,” Nordlund said. “It’s for small things, so it’s your computers, laptops, telephones, printers, small countertop appliances.”

The Santa & Friends Summer Garage Sale takes place Saturday, June 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Jerry Forbes Centre, located at 12122 – 68 St. NW.

All year round, 630 CHED Santas Anonymous accepts donations of unused, unwrapped toys and books. You can also make a monetary donation anytime online.