LYME, Conn. — A Team Skeeter club member has discovered a way to clean up his garage and raise funds for his club at the same time.
"We all have that old stuff in our garages or in our boats, so I started putting those assets to good use," said Team Skeeter member Mark Carlin.
Last winter, Carlin was upgrading his fishing equipment and electronics, and he was trying to figure out how to best get rid of the pre-loved gear. "Instead of just putting it in the garage and letting it collect dust, I decided to sell the stuff on eBay and donate the money to charity," said Carlin. "It worked really well. The stuff sold fast."
The Connecticut angler got permission to use the eBay account of Reynold's Garage and Marine Inc., a longtime supporter of the Connecticut BASS Federation Nation (CBFN). "[The marina has] a good customer service rating on eBay," said Carlin.
Soon, Carlin sold a Skeeter battery charger and two Lowrance depthfinders for $600. When he told his club about his eBay sales, fellow club members asked to have some of their old rods and reels sold on eBay. Their products combined to raise $300 through eBay sales, and the anglers decided to donate the money to the CBFN charities.
The donation was a nice surprise for Susan Weeks, CBFN treasurer and Team Skeeter president. "Sue almost dropped her clipboard when we announced it to her," said Carlin. "She works so hard at [the charity funds], so I said I would like to donate the money to the Federation charity fund."
The club decided to donate half of the e-Bay sales to the Robert S. Malloy Scholarship Fund, which the CBFN awards annually to a University of Connecticut student, and the other half to the CBFN junior program.
The club plans to sell more used tackle on eBay to raise funds. "I've got seven more reels that I am going to donate, and another guy in the club said he had some old stuff he is going to bring in," said Carlin.
