Ten years ago, Don Baunsgard’s life changed on a trip to rural Uganda, where he learned of the great need for clean drinking water. Five years later, he was looking for a solution to that critical need, and an answer to the question of how he could use his energy and compassion to make a difference.
The Uganda mission he completed in 2006 was organized by World Vision and Baunsgard’s Snoqualmie Valley Alliance Church. Baunsgard wanted to go with the mission team, but lacked the funding. Then he realized his garage was filled with stuff that had monetary value, stuff he could easily live without.
Estimating the value of items at $1,000, Baunsgard also wondered what other Valley families might be storing, unneeded and unused, in their garages. He let the Valley know what he was planning and asked for donations to the yard sale; the sale raised more than enough to cover his travel expenses, over $4,000.
In 2012, Baunsgard again felt the urge to take action and started planning another yard sale, which was held over three days in the summer of 2013. Proceeds of the sale exceeded $25,000.
Most of the money was used to build wells through Planet Changer, a non-profit organization started by Monty Wright of SVA. Money also went to World Vision for malaria mosquito nets in Kenya, an orphanage in Peru, and to families in Burma who were displaced from their homes during a civil war.
Twenty fresh water wells have been dug, Baunsgard said, serving more than 20,000 people in rural Uganda. Water-borne illnesses have been reduced drastically, and there have been no reported deaths of children since the wells have been in use.
Baunsgard is once again collecting donations and planning yet another giant yard sale, this time to be held at Opstad Elementary School in North Bend, July 28 to 31.
“My goal is to raise $40,000.00,” he said.
Funds will be used to build 25 fresh water wells in Uganda, with donations planned to a local food bank, the winter homeless shelter, and House of Hope.
“This can only happen with the generosity of the people of the Snoqualmie Valley,” he said. “We can all do something to make a difference, to save a life.”
Volunteers are needed to assist with every aspect of Baunsgard’s project. To donate, or volunteer, contact Baunsgard at (425) 531-5193, or visit his Facebook event page, “Save the Children Yard Sale 2016.”
Stephen Miller has served as a missionary in Uganda and Kenya, and is the author of the faith-based novel “$10 Lobsters.”
