Consignment Sale of the Year at St. Ephrem's This Weekend

Anybody who has ever held a yard sale knows the amount of work that goes into preparations. Gathering the used toys, books, clothes and knick knacks, picking through them to make sure they are clean and unbroken, figuring out how much to charge, advertising the sale, setting up on the driveway, conducting the sale on the actual day, then the post-sale clean up.

Now, imagine having to do that a few hundred times over, and you will get an inking of the amount of work and manpower that Sonia Matura and her army of more than 130 volunteers have poured into this weekend's L'il Angels Consignment Sale at St. Ephrem Parish, 5400 Hulmeville Rd., Bensalem.

"We have more than 37,000 items coming in from more than 300 consignors," said Matura. "It's the biggest consignment sale of the year in Lower Bucks County."

The scale is not the only thing that separates the consignment sale from the ordinary neighborhood garage sale. The entire inventory of items for ages 0 to 16 is meticulously cleaned, inspected and researched to insure that the secondhand goods meet the inventory standards.

Rows of clothing, books, toys, games, strollers, maternity clothing and more line the gymnasium and community room at St. Ephrem's. A presale for registered consigners and volunteers takes place Friday. On Saturday, the doors open for the public to browse and purchase items between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. The first day of the sale also doubles as a community celebration, with activities for the kids, fire trucks from local departments, a Monster Mini-Golf set up, karate demos and more.

The sale continues on Sunday between 8 a.m. and noon. Between 12:30 and 1:30, the event finishes with a bag sale, where customers can fill a plastic bag with specially marked items for a flat fee of $15.

This is also not a Goodwill store or the Salvation Army, where people can back a truck in and deposit their unwanted items. Matura required every potential seller to pre-register on the L'il Angels website and input their inventory into the database

"People come in and feel like they are shopping at any namebrand retail store, but with deep discounts," said Matura. "The donated items are coming in all day Thursday and Friday, and we spray everything outside with disinfectant, look them over for any cracks, tears and other flaws, then we have someone go over recall reports with a fine tooth comb to make sure we are not carrying anything deemed unsafe."

Matura got involved with L'il Angels Consignment store five years ago when she started attending consignment sales to find discounts for bay and children's items. She befriended Carol DeBenedictis, L'il Angels' previous owner, and began volunteering her time to help out with the sale. Two years later, DeBenedictis asked Matura to take over.

It's a big job to organize one of the largest attended events in the area, and Matura credits her volunteers for making it a success.

"They are the best group of volunteers around, and nobody else has them but me," said Matura. "The sale does not happen without them. We are a big, happy family working together for a good cause."

A large portion of revenue generated by the two-day event will be donated to local charities and non-profits. Once the sale is finished, any leftover items will also be donated to organizations such as Cradle to Crayons ad KidsPeace.

"Our charitable donations is another aspect that separates us from other consignments," said Matura. "We go far beyond the other sales."

The L'il Angels Consignment Sale takes place at St. Ephrem Parish, 5400 Hulmeville Rd., Bensalem. Saturday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday 8 a.m.-noon, followed by a $15 bag sale between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m.