DONATIONS WANTED: Alexandria School’s Flea Market Supports Students and Teachers
Event for Mount Vernon Community School is April 13
ALEXANDRIA, VA-Move over, solar eclipse. On the horizon is another celestial event, one of local magnitude: the return of the Mount Vernon Community School Big Flea.
Donations are still being accepted for the Saturday, April 13 event, a cherished Del Ray institution that benefits the Mount Vernon Community School PTA. The fun begins at 8:30 a.m.
Lea Pérez-López, President of the Mt. Vernon Community School PTA, said funds raised by the Big Flea, “support the PTA in providing teacher grants to buy supplies for their classrooms, enrichment activities, special events, computers, musical instruments, and the Blessings in a Backpack program that distributes food for students to take home on the weekend.”
This year, the market returns as Big Flea in the Neighborhood, featuring coordinated yard sales spread across seven locations. It coincides with the Del Ray Vintage & Flea Market and the Warwick Village Mega Yard Sale. So make a day of it, thrift-fluencers!
Unlike today’s eclipse, you don’t need special eyewear to have a Big Flea experience. In fact, you’ll want to keep your eyes wide open. There are treasures to be found. Hint: Bring the kids. With their keen eyes, they are particularly adept at finding old toys that will be new again.
As an example, here’s what happened to volunteer and parent Angela Mills.
When Mills’ son was 10 and a student at MVCS, they went to the flea, “just to look around” and – yes – returned home with an almost life-size Melissa & Doug Hot Dog and Ice Cream Cart. At first, Mills was incredulous. She thought, “Wow, buddy, okaaaay? I guess?” But, she admitted they still own it, and it’s a real conversation starter.
This is just a sample of what you may find, per the market’s website: hardcover, paperback, and board books, small furniture, artwork and home decor, holiday decorations, glassware, dishes and serving pieces, jewelry, lamps, and kid and baby items (toys, games, strollers, changing tables, highchairs).
In the past, even cars have been raffled off. Call them “Flea-hicles.”
Dana Colarulli, a longtime parent volunteer for the Big Flea and coiner of the term “Flea Nation,” (for the legions of people who volunteer and make the day possible) said humorously, “It’s a great event that happens to coincide perfectly with spring cleaning.”
“It’s wild what people will donate,” said Hallie Wilfert, a Big Flea parent volunteer. She has had major success herself. When she and her husband moved to the area, they almost entirely furnished their home with Big Flea finds. “Coffee tables, end tables,” she said. “It was fantastic.”
The event is community-cycling at its best. When Wilfert’s family no longer needed the furniture, back to the Big Flea it went, there for another family to use.
To donate, write to [email protected].
This story has been updated.
