The Casi Nuevo store will manage an estate sale featuring the entire contents of the two-story house of Mary Alice Sargent, who has returned to the United States after 22 years at Lakeside.
The sale takes place at the store (the property with the red door located on the Carretera in Riberas del Pilar across from 7-11) on Saturday, May 25, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Casi Nuevo opened in 2003 to support the Lakeside School for Children with Special Needs (formerly the Lakeside School for the Deaf). It was originally conceived as a thrift shop to sell donated clothing and household items primarily to the Mexican community at affordable prices.
In 2010, Casi Nuevo expanded to also support the Lake Chapala Society Education and the Have Hammer … Will Travel programs.
Thanks to its volunteer staff, all profits have been destined for the benefit of these programs.
Last year, Casi Nuevo expanded its charter to sell on consignment. The shop has the floor space, management, trained personnel and clientele to properly display and successfully sell small and large quality items.
Casi Nuevo has now again upsized its charter to manage estate sales. The Mary Alice Sargent estate sale will be its first.
Photos of some of the items for sale can be viewed on the School for the Deaf Web site at www.LakesideSchoolForTheDeaf.org (click on “Estate Sale”).Casi Nuevo depends on the support of the community to help their three charities. They accept donations or consignments of furniture and household goods, rugs, lamps, appliances, art work, pottery, kitchen gadgets, books, etc. For your donation convenience, there is a drop-box located outside the library at LCS. Pick-up and delivery of large items can be arranged.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Saturday. For more information or to arrange pickup of large items, please contact Jacqueline Smith at 766-1303.
The address is Independencia 113 in San Antonio Tlayacapan, about three-quarters of a block south of the plaza.
The charities
The School for the Deaf organization was founded 35 years ago and owns the school and property in Jocotepec. It was established to educate and provide hearing aids to hearing impaired children. About 15 years ago, the school was leased for one peso per year to the Jalisco Department of Education that took over the administration of the school.
The Department of Education has expanded the school to accept all types of children with special needs, including those with Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, quadriplegia, paraplegia and visual impairment.
The Department of Education provides the administrator, teachers, psychologist and physical therapist. The school’s volunteer organization is responsible for the hearing impaired children in the school, as well as the children in the outreach program who attend other Lakeside schools. The organization works with several foundations in the United States to supply hearing aids to children in the school and both children and Mexican adults in the outreach program. The organization is also responsible for the maintenance of the seven buildings and the grounds of the school property.
The Lake Chapala Society (LCS) Education Program includes the Saturday morning Art Program which has taught and educated thousands of children over the years. LCS also offers classes in English as a second language that serves children and adults alike. Enrollment reaches nearly 300 students each year. LCS offers student aid and maintains the Wilkes Education Center with more than 4,000 books, public computer terminals, a computer lab, wifi and classrooms.
Have Hammer … Will Travel provides a unique program with no known equal in Mexico. The goal of this organization is to provide lifelong skills that can be used in a child’s professional and personal life, with emphasis on woodworking. More than 150 children and teens have completed the program since its inception at Mision San Pablo in 2007, at Hope House in 2008 and at the Lake Chapala Society in 2009. The current workshop is located in Riberas del Pilar.