The Garage Sale was held on 27th April 2008 at No. 14 Adams Avenue, Colombo 4. Sale was with the niyat of sending mumineen to Karbala Moalla.

 

The day started off with a flourish of people trying to get their hands on everything we had, it looked like we would be done much earlier than expected.

Most of our sales were made early morning, which was a result of good newspaper advertisements and continuous SMS’s sent to mumineen.

 

The heavens opened up in the afternoon, which gave us a well needed break for lunch and an opportunity to test out the awesome surround sound system we got as donation.

 

It was back to work when the rain seized and looking at the growing empty space around us gave us the sense of accomplishment and relief.

 

The Garage Sale was a success, the hard work of all the members had paid off.

 

The ground work for this project was started by early March, and the sale which was to be held on the first week of April was postponed as a result of members being busy and collections not made.

 

We had introduced a new concept for collecting items, this time each Mohalla was under the responsibility of certain shabab members, this had its pros & cons.

 

We had agreed to approach mumineen shops for one new item which they deal in, collection of this sort was not done as well as we expected.

 

With Moulas’ Dua Mubarak however the Sale was a Suceess but there are a lot of areas for improvement.

 

Things to be considered for next sale

  1. Choosing the location is very important. Location should be easily accessible and should have road frontage. This will increase the customers visiting the sale.
  2. Paper advertising is not enough, Banners should also be displayed.
  3. Items should not only be in working condition, but should be presentable and look good otherwise no one will buy them.
  4. Furniture items in good condition will sell fast, and most people are also looking for antiques.
  5. Small items that are new and look good sell like hot cakes.
  6. Mohallah wise distribution will only be a success if the person in charge is willing to give 100%. Or else it is better to have a team with one person answering all the calls and appointing people to make collections. It is easier to fix a day and collect all items in one go.
  7. Items should be collected fast as mumineen do not like to remove stuff and have it lying around the house for days.

 

A Note worthy of mention is that we had many Shabab Committee and ordinary members visiting us and helping us during the day of the Garage Sale. They all came without being called, and lifted our spirits by just coming there. Namely

 

Moiz Asgerally

Mustafa Sh Shabbir Manco

Nooruddin Sh Shabbir Skyray

Moiz Mu. Nuruddin

Salman Sh Habib

Moiz Sh Hatim

Hatim Sh Shabbir

Mohammed Sh Imran

Abbas Sh Fazle Hussain

Hussein Sh Huzaifa

Dawood Sh Mustafa

Hussain Sh Mansoor Manco

Mohammed Sh Kutbuddin

Muffadal Sh Yusuf Saldiwala

Hussain Sh Shabbir

 

Mu.Husainbhai Sh Zainuddin for giving us the location to carry out this project.

 

We would also like to thank Fatema Aunty Sh Habib Jafferjee for the constant care shown, the delicious sandwiches and tea with biscuits made our work seem like a picnic. Thank you.

 

At the end of the day when you sit down and think, you realize that when you are doing Aqa Moula’s (TUS) khidmat, it is Aqa Moula (TUS) who is helping you and with the Dua of Aqa Moula (TUS) everything turns out GREAT!

 

May Allah Ta’ala grant our beloved Aqa Moula (TUS) a long life till the day of qayamat. Ameen!

 

 

Report by

Huzaifa Sh Abdeali

Mufaddal Sh Mukkarram