By Cristian Reyes and Kaitlyn Oliveros, Nov. 15, 2022
On Nov. 10, the Bronco Recreation and Intramural Complex held its first-ever yard sale allowing students to purchase used gym equipment and accessories that were once used in the facility.
Working with ASI, the BRIC held a yard sale outside their facility to sell used equipment to help raise money for the Supporting Opportunities to Access Recreation fund.
Kaycee K. Martin, the associate director of Campus Recreation Programs, talked more about the SOAR fund and how it’ll help students in the future.
“Our initial plans are that this will be a funding source that we continue to fundraise for so it’s sustainable in the long term for students to apply to receive funding,” said Martin. “It’s so that they’re able to able to participate in the campus recreation programs at no cost for programs that do have a cost.”
Martin talked about how the SOAR fund is still a work in progress, but they’re still excited to launch it.
The event had sports equipment such as golf clubs, volleyballs, stretchers and more for sale. With ASI attending the event, they were also handing out free accessories to students. Like any other yard sale, items were on display with price tags, giving students free room to explore the available items.
To keep the yard sale vibe, some items on sale had the tag “name your price” which allowed students to negotiate a price with yard sale employees.
“We’re encouraging negotiations,” said aquatics Manager for the BRIC, Alejandra Gomez. “So, if students say, ‘all I have is five bucks in my pocket’ okay, alright let’s go for it, we understand everyone is a student.”
Despite the lack of gym equipment such as dumbbells, barbells and kettlebells, students were picking up random equipment, balance boards, hula hoops, bacterial and viral filters and a yellow responder bag. This was the first yard sale the BRIC has put on for students and had a high amount of student engagement from the start. Gomez did not know what to expect before the event, but she was happy to see the large crowd and looks to have another yard sale next year to keep on raising money for the SOAR fund.
The items on sale were either used by the BRIC or in their previous program events. This event promotes the idea of students helping students while also helping the BRIC free up some space and provide students with the best equipment at the BRIC.
With the variety of items being sold, Audrey Pamaran, a general chemistry student, shared what brought her to the event.
“A lot of gym equipment, especially at the BRIC, is kind of expensive, so it’s nice to have a chance to find discounts,” said Pamaran. “I don’t care how old it is and stuff like that. It’s just nice to take advantage of getting equipment at a cheap price.”
Pamaran said she was hoping to get a protein cup shaker, and she got it for only half the price. While she was happy with the purchase, she said she would have liked to see more gym equipment at the event.
“I thought there be more stuff as in equipment, but it’s a lot of random stuff,” said Pamaran. “I saw some random decorations being sold … I wish they focused on gym stuff more.”
Although she thought there was a lack of gym equipment at the event, Pamaran shared that she would love to come back to this event in the future.
The event ran for two hours and anything that wasn’t sold will be donated. For more information on the event or any events happening at the BRIC, students can follow them on Instagram @cppcampusrec or visit their website.
Feature image courtesy of Emily Montano