Elda Guillet came to our Garage & Estate Sale with a long shopping list:
Shoes. Clothes. Linens. Books.
However, nothing on the list was for her. Elda was buying items for people in need in the Dominican Republic. 

Elda was shopping for a cause. As a student missionary with Dominican Adventus University, she was looking for basic items to bring back for others who have few possessions.

Elda started shopping at the Garage & Estate Sale several years ago when she was a missionary in Nicaragua. She has her game plan mapped out long before she gets here. Elda flies into Austin with only a few personal items and several empty pieces of large luggage. She stays with her sister, Nancy, and wears clothing she has left here or borrows her sister’s things. At the sale, Elda fills her bags with items she will take back to others. Her goal is to have as much room for purchases as possible.  

“I am buying shoes for a lady. These ladies may only have one outfit. It’s for church and work, so it gets dirty and very worn out,” she explained. Her goal is to get that woman more clothing so she has a special outfit to wear to church.

Among her many duties as a missionary, Elda teaches English to children. She visits the Book Department and browses through the inventory for books that would help her students.

Over the years, Elda has created many Garage & Estate Sale memories. She shared a story about an inexpensive embroidered napkin she bought for a young girl. The little girl saved it for a number of years and treasured the item. It’s moments like that which keep Elda returning year after year to help people across the globe, as well as support the kids at The Settlement Home.

Elda and her sister, Nancy, browse in the Linens Department.