Duluth congregation's rummage sale funds church programs and community work

Books, furniture and household goods gave the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Duluth’s annual rummage sale a sharper purpose than a simple cleanout. The sale, held at 835 West College Street, was the congregation’s biggest fundraiser and helped pay for the work that keeps the church active week to week.

Shoppers found a broad spread of secondhand items, including sewing and art supplies, garden and other tools, sporting goods, collectibles and linens. Local event listings placed the sale across early June, with one calendar running it June 4-6 and another June 5-7, and both described the event as starting Friday afternoon and ending Saturday at 1 p.m.

UUCD describes itself as a family-friendly, welcoming Unitarian Universalist congregation in Duluth. Its visitors page says the building is a weekly gathering place for worship, justice work, education, social events and community outreach, which makes the rummage sale more than a one-time cash drive. The fundraiser helps underwrite the ordinary work of a congregation that has to keep those programs going with local support.

That wider mission showed up in UUCD’s June 2026 Woven Basket recipient, Safe Haven. Safe Haven began on March 1, 1978, and has grown into a 55-bed shelter for survivors of domestic violence, their children and even their pets. By pairing the rummage sale with that giving program, the church tied its fundraising to direct aid beyond its own walls.

UUCD has also used its congregational voice on public issues, including a vote to support Indigenous water protectors and oppose Line 3, with plans for a delegation to visit resistance camps in Palisade and Fond du Lac. In a city where churches and nonprofits often rely on steady grassroots fundraising, the annual rummage sale stood out as a practical way to turn donated goods and volunteer labor into money for the church’s own programming and its community commitments.