Valleywide : Donations Sought by Child Welfare Agency

Everybody’s got it.

It’s the pile in the corner of the closet, basement or garage where people dump the stuff they don’t want any more--like the 20-year-old blender with the cracked glass pitcher. Or the ugly watercolor of a beach scene by an unknown artist. The sombrero Dad bought in Tijuana.

Now, all the trappings, gear, paraphernalia and other stuff you’ve been meaning to clear out for months can finally be put to good use.

The Inner Circle Foster Family Agency in Van Nuys, which places abused, neglected and abandoned children in selected homes, is beginning a new full-therapy program for youngsters. To raise funds for the program, the agency will hold its first garage sale Nov. 4.

The nonprofit agency aids about 88 children between the ages of 1 and 18.

“The children typically have very few financial resources,” said Lisa Paige, executive director of Inner Circle. “To get therapeutic help for them costs money. So what we raise from the garage sale will go into a fund to help us pay a clinical therapist to work with the children,” many of whom have been physically and/or sexually abused.

Donations being accepted include clothing, books, furniture, linens, toys, games, rugs, arts and crafts, dishes and silverware, sports and camping equipment, records, tapes and compact discs, appliances and just anything else.

Donations may be dropped off at the Mission Hills Chamber of Commerce, 11150 Sepulveda Blvd., through Tuesday. The chamber is open from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, and from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday and Friday. Items also may be dropped at Inner Circle’s offices at 7120 Havenhurst Ave., Suite 204, in Van Nuys. For donations of large or heavy items, call (818) 886-4281.

The sale will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 4238 Greenbush Ave. in Sherman Oaks.