St. Mary's School to Host Major Garage Sale Fundraiser

ALTON - St. Mary’s Catholic School will have their second annual O’Baby Resale event to raise money for their classrooms.

Community members are invited to purchase a table in Suddes Hall to sell children and baby items, clothing, toys and more. From 4–7 p.m. on Friday, April 4, and 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, April 5, and Sunday, April 6, 2025, the Riverbend community can stop by St. Mary’s to shop the sales and support the school.

“It’s amazing how much stuff we have there, everything that you could think of that you would need for your kids,” said Mary Rivera, principal of St. Mary’s. “Everything that we make off of it goes directly back into replenishing our classrooms with the supplies that they need to teach our students.”

Sellers can purchase a table in Suddes Hall for $20, and then set up their items on April 2 and 3. The sale starts on Friday, April 4, and is open to the public.

The early-bird sale on April 4 costs $5 to attend. Admission costs $2 on Saturday, April 5, and Sunday, April 6.

The O’Baby Resale is similar to a garage sale, with a focus on baby, children and maternity items. Rivera noted that it’s an easy way to sell your items without the stress of organizing your own garage sale.

“We know that garage sales are really popular, but this is a hard time of the year to know if you can have a garage sale or not. You have to maybe jam it all in your garage because of rain,” she said. “The thought was that we would sell tables, basically spots within our gym, and then you come and set up and then we have a three-day garage sale within our gym that people can come and look at all of these different goods.”

The resale event is a great chance to clean out your closets and playrooms, or to refresh your kids’ clothing and toys. Last year, Rivera said they welcomed daycares and schools that came to replenish their toys, as well as plenty of parents and grandparents who were looking for clothing and supplies.

She remembers one first-time mom who purchased a stroller and a crib at a major discount. Rivera herself bought a snowsuit for $1 for her child.

Sellers keep the money they make, but proceeds from the admission costs and the table rentals go toward St. Mary’s programs. Rivera pointed out that Catholic schools like St. Mary’s don’t receive a lot of state funding, so they are reliant on fundraisers and community support. She expressed appreciation for the community members who will contribute as sellers and shoppers next weekend.

“We have to be creative in how we fund our classrooms,” Rivera explained. “We don’t get a lot of state support, so having people within our St. Mary’s community and the Alton community and just the bigger Riverbend community is very important to us. Those funds from any of our fundraisers are necessary in us putting items back into our classrooms that our teachers need to meet the needs of our students, so that they continue to have that learning environment that we're able to provide here at St. Mary's for all of our kiddos.”

For more information about the O’Baby Resale, visit the official event webpage. To learn more about St. Mary’s Catholic School, including how to donate, check out their official website at StMarysAlton.com/School. If you would like to donate items for the school to sell, you can drop them off at St. Mary’s between 3:15–7 p.m. on April 2 and 3, 2025.