Bayside Church Volunteer Group To Raise Funds For Parish, Academy

BAYSIDE, NY — Volunteers of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament are raising money by hosting their first ever garage sale to help both maintain the Bayside church and provide scholarships at the eponymously named Catholic academy on Sept. 24.

People interested in being a vendor at the event, located at 34-24 203 St., which will be from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., can rent a long table for $40 or a short one for $25.

Custom items and home goods are just a few of the products up for sale, according to Ana Monteverdi of the Rosary Altar Society, the all-women volunteer fundraising group at the parish.

“The money will go to repairs for the church as well as scholarships for students who may be in need of assistance,” Monteverdi told Patch.

The Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Academy is attached to the church and provides education for nursery-aged to middle school students.

“The scholarship range is based on how much we are able to raise,” Monteverdi added. “We try to do what we can. A little bit goes a long way and we try to raise money throughout the year.”

The volunteer group will host an Italian dinner in October, in December a Christmas in Hawaii party and in March a St. Patrick’s Day event.

“Our biggest event is a $20,000 raffle give away,” said the volunteer. “We want to stay competitive with the Board of Education, which is not always easy.”

Maintaining the church and paying the teachers are of the utmost importance to the parish, Monteverdi said.

“Some of the items for sale are personalized or there are holiday items that people can get for Christmas shopping,” she said. “There are also other home items that people have, but probably just never got around using them.”