Rummage Sale Aims to Raise Money to Educate Girls in Kenya

Find goods for your home Saturday while supporting a cause at the annual rummage sale of 's WISER Club.

Hundreds of items – including clothing, kitchen and home decor items, books, toys and even sporting equipment – will be available for purchase. Cash only, please. 

The sale is from 7 a.m. to noon at Foothill High School, 4375 Foothill Road. Watch for posted signs.

The event is a part of the Women’s Institute for Secondary Education and Research (WISER) Club of Foothill High School's goal to raise money to send girls to the WISER school in Kenya, according to Anchal Ahuja, Foothill WISER Club vice president.

Every $1,000 that is raised can fund one year of education for a girl at the WISER school, according to Linda Gullick, club adviser and Foothill's Health and Bioscience Academy teacher.

Foothill’s WISER chapter is one of many in the worldwide, nonprofit, non-governmental organization that built the first girls’ boarding school and research center in Muhuru Bay in Kenya. The school was built in January 2010.

To date, the Foothill club has raised nearly $2,500 through various fundraisers, co-presidents Mollie Richardson and Maddie Biehl told their fellow club members during a lunchtime meeting.

Richardson said she hopes the rummage sale will push them over the $3,000 mark.

The 17-year-old said being involved with WISER has broadened her perspective into a global one and that it has made her appreciative of the opportunity to gain an education as a female student.

Biehl, also a senior, echoed that sentiment.

"We get to help them get what I'm lucky to have," the 18-year-old Biehl said.

Gullick said she is impressed with how the club has evolved and how much commitment her students put into reaching their goals.

"It just shows that in a time where we hear about education failing and a lot of problems about how students are failing... it's neat to see students do that philanthropic work," Gullick said. ". They learn so much in the process. ...They learn how to inspire."

WISER was founded in 2002 by Drs. Sherryl Broverman of Duke University and Rose Odhiambo of Egerton University in Kenya. The organization works toward improving economic, educational and health for girls who live in Muhuru Bay, according to the organization’s website.

Donations are being collected through Friday and can be dropped off at Room B13 at Foothill High, Ahuja said.

For more information on the sale or how to donate, email the Foothill WISER club at wiser.fhs@gmail.com or visit its event page on Facebook here.