Another Big Haul: Bainbridge Island Rotary Club Grosses More than $1 million From Its Annual Auction and Rummage Sale!

We all know the old saw, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” In so many ways, that old adage applies to Bainbridge Island’s annual Rotary Auction and Rummage Sale. But one thing that can’t be denied is the amount of money this Mother of All Fundraisers makes in a mere six-hour period!

The Auction, more of a humongous garage sale than anything resembling something you might witness at Sotheby’s in Manhattan, just completed its 65th year, and hundreds of volunteers and Rotarians cheered at a celebratory picnic yesterday afternoon (Sunday July 20th) when the final tally was announced.

A sprinkling of Rotarians, along with a handful of deserving volunteers stood up in front of the assembled masses and held up yellow placards. When instructed to do so, they each held their signs high over their heads to reveal a dollar sign, numbers, a comma, and a period.

A hush went over the crowd as they took in the unveiling, and not long after there were shouts, clapping and whistling as everyone began to figure out the number in front of them was $1,018,718.75! Wow. That’s right, the Rotary Club pierced the million-dollar mark for the first time ever! Amazing. Of course, it was another record haul for the Auction, beating last year’s total of $824,365 by almost $200,000.

The final number is a gross revenue figure and doesn’t include the cost of putting on this signature island event. Money is spent feeding hundreds of volunteers, renting forklifts and tents, paying for dumpsters and garbage hauling fees, as well security guards and renting Woodward Middle School, where it is all staged in one day.

Most islanders know, or soon find out after moving here, that the Auction is a truly unique event, with year-long preparation, followed by five days or so of donation collection and sorting, as some 150,000 items (mostly from Bainbridge Islanders) are distributed among some 35 departments.

On the big day – this year July 12, 2025 – somewhere between an estimated 7,000 to 8,000 people (no one knows the exact number) streamed through the school grounds and bought treasurers that sometimes end up back at the Rotary Auction the following year. The money is used to support both international causes, such as paying for wells in far off places like Uganda, and closer to home, local non-profits, and local causes such Bainbridge Land Trust, the Bainbridge History Museum and Olympic College.

“We support something like 30 (local) nonprofits,” said Auction co-chair Brian Marks, who will take the reins as the official Auction Chairperson next year. Marks said there were a record 1,077 new volunteers working the Auction this year, some of whom, he joked, didn’t eat enough donuts. “That’s one area I’m disappointed in, you guys (pointing to the crowd) only ate 972 donuts this past week. I want that number up to a 1,000 next year.”

So, what happened to all the goodies that aren’t purchased during the Auction’s peak hours on Saturday July 12? Some 50 different non-profit organizations – affectionately known as “Harvesters” (all of whom wear special badges) – moved in at approximately 3 pm and began snapping up clothing, bikes, furniture, skis and whatever else is available and loading the largess onto awaiting trucks. At about 9 or 9:30 p.m., the site is then opened to anyone from the public who wants to rummage through the remaining leftovers. These folks are known in the Rotary vernacular as “gleaners.”

The next morning, compactor trucks from Bainbridge Disposal moved onto the site and cleaned up the excess stuff and took it to the dump, so that the Rotary Club could return the school back to its principal and teachers. We drove by Woodward on that Sunday afternoon following the Auction, and you’d never know there was an event of such magnitude held there. Another amazing feat!

To learn more about the Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island and the Auction and Rummage Sale, visit: https://www.bainbridgerotaryauction.org/

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