Good Times and Great Deals: The Post Oak Pre-Owned Market

Typically, the only reason I am awake at 5 a.m. is because I am headed to the airport, I have a cross country meet, or I drank a little too much water before bed. Very rarely is an early awakening caused by the need to sort toy trucks for an imminent school garage sale. 

To introduce yet another new development to 2020, The Post Oak School prepared and presented the first Post Oak Pre-Owned Market. This outdoor and socially-distanced event served as a fun way to promote reusing and repurposing items while bringing our community together to work towards a common goal to benefit the school.

In the weeks preceding the event, community members dropped off loads of stuff. I’m talking loads of stuff. Clearly, many families were taking advantage of the opportunity to complete their final step of quarantine cleaning as well as, it seemed, declutter their storage units. There were even moving trucks arriving at the front office containing antique French furniture. At the same time, people donated household “odds” and ”ends” that turned out to be shockingly valuable upon checking Ebay.

The entire music room was packed with donations from floor to ceiling. Volunteers suddenly became the most important thing in the world (besides, of course, finding a Covid-19 vaccine). As the sorting process began, volunteers worked tirelessly to price and organize the myriad of donated items. Despite the looming towers of donations to sort, volunteers discovered that *cliche alert* anything was possible when they worked together. People who love to organize delved into organization methods while teenage boys casually showed off their muscles, hoisting tables and tents and strutting the long way around the campus to set up. Community members who had never spoken before were now sorting potty training equipment and women’s scarves of every size and color at midnight - a better bonding activity than any cheesy icebreaker. 

Bargain hunters scout out the toy section at the Post Oak Pre-Owned Market. (Photo: Jessica Donahue)

On the early morning of the event, students, parents, faculty, and staff arrived with their team spirit and work ethic (with a side of dark undereye bags) to complete the final stretch of preparation. They powered through frigid temperatures, especially those who had stubbornly worn shorts. Categorized items were hauled outside onto tables, tents were set up, and pandemic policies were posted. Before the sale started, a line had formed, full of eager and obviously experienced garage sale scouts. There was a bustle of bargain hunting and good deals to be found.

While the event was a great success (generating $16,000 profit), there were plenty of remaining items which found new homes with Post Oak faculty and the HISD Wraparound Services. Ultimately, volunteers left the event with bigger biceps and beaming with pride from a rewarding first day of fall weather!