Record players are hot again.
Orion’s Attic knocked out our latest Silver Spring home cleanout. And as is true for all of our projects, we did some social good, too. We loaded up the home’s antiques, collectibles, record player and other valuable items and brought them to an auction house. (Clients get the money from auction sales). But our work never stops at simply selling things for homeowners, downsizers, estate executives, heirs and personal representatives. We also transport donations to charities and haul away trash.
Doing social good with our home cleanouts
We get more satisfaction from helping our favorite charities than we do from the profit we make from our work. It makes our clients happy, too. They love knowing that anything that can be given a second life with people in need won’t be thrown away. On today’s job, we delivered a full truckload of much-needed items to our friends at A Wider Circle. While A Wider Circle does provide a pickup service, our clients typically need their estates liquidated and homes cleaned out faster than a charity can get to them. We brought several complete bedroom sets, a student desk, art, a kitchen table and matching chairs, couches, clothing and more. We provided our client with the A Wider Circle tax donation receipt, and we provided him with a formal letter documenting what we brought on his behalf.
All items were in excellent condition. Few charities can take furniture that needs repair or looks terrible.
One A Wider Circle staffer told us something years ago that we will never forget. Her words explained how it determines what donations to accept — and how they view the people they help.
“People who are poor don’t need to be reminded that they’re poor,” she said. “We want to provide them with nice, clean furniture and other items that help them feel better about their lives.”
There are other charities with missions to provide damaged furniture for people to restore and repair. A Wider Circle, though, is dedicated to “advancing equity in the greater Washington, DC region by fostering the exchange of goods, skills, and connections from neighbor to neighbor, and by engaging in advocacy to address the root causes of poverty.”
A Wider Circle’s distribution model is unique, too. It refers to people who seek furniture and household items as “customers” or “clients” — and it sets up its distribution area like a retail store showroom. Customers “shop” for what they want to take home for free. The nonprofit requires customers to move the furniture and other items themselves so that they are invested in the quality of what they bring home.
The end results of this Silver Spring home cleanout?
- We cleared the entire home in one day — enabling the client to complete the sale of his home.
- Unlike many junk companies, we brought multiple items to sell at auction. We sell through other means when relevant, too. We work with jewelers, coin dealers, military antiques dealers and high-end vintage automobile dealers and brokers.
- We put smiles on the faces of A Wider Circle staff when they saw us roll up with another truckload of good stuff. We know that our trip will put even bigger smiles on the faces of people who will soon be sleeping on clean beds, filling nice dressers with like-new clothes, and doing their homework on a student desk.
- We didn’t put a single item from this home in a landfill. The client never allowed trash to accumulate the way most people do, but we were able to give a second life to every item in the house.
Learn more about our Silver Spring estate liquidation services.
Contact us today about our estate liquidation project in Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia.
Orion’s Attic is a full-service estate liquidation, downsizing and home cleanout company based in Silver Spring, Maryland. We also buy antiques and collectibles. We serve the greater Washington, D.C./Maryland/Northern Virginia region. Our service area includes Montgomery County (Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Olney, Potomac, Rockville, Silver Spring, Wheaton, Takoma Park, etc.), Frederick County, Howard County (Columbia, Ellicott City), Prince George’s County (College Park, Greenbelt, Hyattsville) plus Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia. We will occasionally go further if a project is big enough.
Orion’s Attic has been proud to transport our clients’ furniture and other critical items to A Wider Circle for more than a decade and counting.
Orion’s Attic has been proud to transport our clients’ furniture and other critical items to A Wider Circle for more than a decade and counting.
