A Sale And A Fight Against Cancer in Woodbury

Sometimes, a garage sale is more than a garage sale.

For the past few years, Woodbury resident Steph Jakubik and her friends have been part of the annual to raise funds for their participation in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure, a 60-mile walk that raises money for breast cancer research.

Jakubik was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.

Luckily, doctors found the cancer during her annual mammogram.

“It really saved my life,” she said of the early detection.

Jakubik has several family members who are cancer survivors, and she and few friends have participated in the 3-Day event for the past three years. The garage sale is one of three venues they utilize each year to raise the $2,300 in pledges required for the walk. Her mother is a breast cancer survivor, and Jakubik initially started walking in her honor.

Seven or eight families in her neighborhood bring items to her Dakota Avenue home for the sale, and people often come back each year looking for the big pink ribbon in front of her home, Jakubik said.

She had a positive outlook on things on Friday, joking with friends as they sold their wares. The group usually singles out an odd item at the start of the citywide garage sale event that they don’t think will sell.

“And that’s always one of the first things that goes,” Jakubik said.

This year it was a picture of Jesus. Last year it was a frog figurine. One year it was a gold shower curtain. They all sold.

The opposite is also often true—things they think will go quickly never sell, Jakubik said.

Plastic toys for kids and clothes are generally popular items, said Jakubik, who doesn’t attend many garage sales on her own time.

Despite the poor start to this year’s four-day event in terms of weather, Jakubik said sales were steady, though the numbers were down a bit from last year.

“They plan to do this, so they dress for the weather,” she said.

Socializing with neighbors and friends is a fun part of the garage sale, Jakubik said, but the fundraiser for the upcoming Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure changed things a bit this week.

“The walk this year will have a whole different meaning,” she said.