MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — United Way of Monongalia and Preston Counties teamed up with WVU’s Office of Sustainability to host the eighteenth annual Blue and Gold Mine Sale at Milan Puskar Stadium.
Individuals lined up as early as 4 a.m. to catch deals on donated items like clothing, furniture, books, house décor, kitchenware and more.
The sale opened to the public at 7 a.m. on Saturday morning, offering its Early Bird Special prices for $5 admission until 9 am. Regular sale hours took place from 9 a.m. till noon and from 4 p.m. till 6 p.m. Prices were dropped 50 percent to encourage a full cleanout of the facility.
The sale was believed to have over 2,000 people in attendance throughout the day. Last year the event was able to save over 25 tons of materials from heading to a trash dump by collecting donations from dorms, apartments and community members.
This year, members of United Way and WVU’s Office of Sustainability distributed collection bins and donation trailers around Morgantown to encourage more people to donate their unwanted items. Even with the sale coming to an end, United Way will still donate and recycle the items that were not purchased.
12 News spoke with Servando Arredondo, United Way of Mon and Preston Counties Engagement Manager, on the significance of the event.
“I believe it’s important to do things like this, one, again, to keep things out of landfills, reduce, reuse and recycle. A lot of stuff is getting a new home today, so that’s awesome. We’re also raising funds to support agencies here in the community. So last year we raised about $25,000 at this sale, and this year, we’re going to do something similar, I’m hoping. Hoping we can exceed that,” Arredondo said.
Although the event will not take place again for another year, United Way of Mon and Preston Counties will be hosting a Power of the Purse event to help fund Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library on June 22. You can find more information on that event here.