Merrill Market: One-Stop Buying and Giving
The Merrill Market: one-stop for buying and giving.
It’s called the Merrill Market and if you think the malls are crazy on Black Friday…
Six years ago the Merrill PTA launched the Dollar Doing Good project. Each Mustang 6th grader gets a buck and “contracts” to make it pay some sort of greater good dividend in the community. A hit from the start, the project just keeps mushrooming. Last year it became the Merrill Market as a means of encouraging more collaboration between and amongst students.
Thursday afternoon the cafeteria turned into a middle school flea market where customers could purchase anything from handmade goat’s milk soap and lip balm to lightly used books with proceeds going to good causes ranging from the local Animal Rescue League to Asia’s One Million Words literacy project.
There were also carnival sideshow games of chance and food – oh boy was there food. Trinket jewelry, too, and off in one corner a pianist tinkling away, playing for tips on behalf of the popular ARL.
From 1:30-2:30 the customers were fellow students. After school until 5:30 the public got in to spoil its supper in support of a buffet of good causes.
Just before the opening bell one picky shopper pulled over at the “bookstore” and discovered a pristine hardback copy of the whimsical golf novel Missing Links by Rick Reilly at the unpassable price of $2. It was near the bottom of a stack in the “Adult” category which was topped by The Great Gatsby @ $4. Chalk up the first of many satisfied customers.
Hundreds of dollars stand to be raised and the point will be made (again) that even more fun than manning a summer lemonade stand and splitting the take with your pals is manning one in the school cafeteria right before spring break and giving all of the cash to man’s best friends.
Note for next year: Ear plugs…there might be a market for ear plugs – and Tums!
