The Rotary Auction & Rummage Sale

The Bainbridge Island Rotary Auction & Rummage Sale has been a local institution for more than 60 years. The first sale, in 1960, raised $5,800 toward the construction of the public library. The sale is the club’s primary fundraising activity.

Every summer, community members donate thousands of items to the sale, and hundreds of volunteers turn those donated items into dollars for good. From 2010-2024, thanks to our community’s generous support, we raised and invested over $4.8 million in our local, regional, and international communities. With every Auction, 100% of the net proceeds are returned to the community. The sale of these donated items makes a positive impact on people in many ways, such as:

• Funding community grants to nonprofit organizations
• Building large community projects such as parks and sports fields
• Providing college scholarships to local students
• Funding international humanitarian projects such as drilling wells in Uganda and providing sanitation equipment in Guatemala

In addition to raising funds, the event is a major recycling project, with tons of merchandise finding new homes every year. We receive major support from the Bainbridge Island community – last year, 2,200 people volunteered to set up, prepare, and run the sale, more than 4,000 carloads of donations were dropped off by local residents, and several thousand people shopped the sale for treasures.