YMM Airport’s Yard Sale Benefits Local Community Organizations

The Fort McMurray International Airport hosted its first ‘Yard Sale’ Aug. 8-9. A total of $5,344.36 was collected at the sale, all of which will go to the YMM Community Investment Program supporting local community organizations with a focus on youth, leadership development, and local community projects.

“We are happy to see the surrendered, and lost & found items from the last three years see a second life instead of being destroyed.” said RJ Steenstra, President and CEO of the Fort McMurray Airport Authority. “The community will benefit the most from the YMM Yard Sale as we will ensure through our Community Investment Program that a well deserving organization or program gets a boost from the sale.”

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) is responsible for the screening of passengers and their belongings for travel. Everyday, many travellers forget about items that are not allowed to travel in their carry-on. Through the screening process these items are identified. Passengers are given the option of stepping out of the screening process to make alternate plans for the item, such as returning it to a vehicle, or they can surrender the item to the screening agent.

The Fort McMurray Airport Authority has worked with CATSA to see that these surrendered items are donated or sold in a way that benefits the local community. The surrendered items along with lost and found items that have been not been claimed for more than 30 days were organized and put into the YMM Yard Sale. The majority of items were multi tools, box cutters and scissors. Some higher value items such as Bose Headphones and a Nixon Watch were displayed as silent auction items which garnered a lot of interest from the public and totalled $1,026 toward the Yard Sale’s total collection.