BETHLEHEM, Pa. -Lehigh University’s Great Southside Sale at Lehigh University is back this weekend. The annual event typically raises more than $20,000 to benefit youth throughout Southside Bethlehem.
The sale took some time off due to coronavirus, but founder Kimberley Carrell-Smith said they are excited to return and have already collected 10,000 pounds of items ready for sale.
“We sort of count our growth by the tents and tables and now we are at over 150 tables in a 200-foot tent,” she said.
When the event began back in 1995, she said, it was a way to help do something with all the items that Lehigh students would leave behind when they moved home for the summer.
But Carrell-Smith said she never expected it to grow into what it’s now become.
“It’s really become part of a tradition at Lehigh,” she said, “People think it’s just part of the culture.”
These days, items for the sale are gathered by the University’s Community Service Office. The gathered goods include everything from home furnishings and decor to toys and electronics.
And the event does more than raise money, she said.
“We do collect food and then toiletries and detergent and things for the homeless shelters, but also food for two food pantries. And we’ve managed to refill the Hispanic Center’s food pantry twice since we started in May,” said Carrell-Smith.
The Great Southside Sale will run 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
This year it will be held at a new location: Broughal Middle School playing field at Vine and West Morton streets in Bethlehem.
