Nick Stokley and Joseph Cleveland have been matched up through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Sarnia-Lambton for about four years, so they know each other pretty well.
Which means Stokley knew full well his nearly 13-year-old Little Brother would be up for volunteering at Saturday’s fundraiser for the local non-profit organization – but not until after he got to sleep in.
“It started at 9 (am), I was like, ‘No way Joseph’s getting up before 9 (am),’” Stokley said with a chuckle.
![From left, volunteers Joseph Cleveland and Nick Stokley sell a raffle ticket to Mike Arnold, all Sarnia residents, during the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Sarnia-Lambton's Spring Show and Sale inside Lambton College's gym on Saturday, April 30, 2022 in Sarnia, Ont . Terry Bridge/Sarnia Observer/Postmedia Network](https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/nexus/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/so.0503-so-sale-2.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=288)
So the pair of Sarnia residents started working together around 11 am instead, selling raffle tickets during the agency’s second annual Spring Show and Sale inside Lambton College’s gym.
“It’s a great venue,” said Kaylen Burgess, the charity’s executive director. “The venue provides a lot of space for the vendors, too, so it’s not congested in here like it’s been in past years.
“The vendors seem happy. We’re happy. Everything’s going really well.”
![Kaylen Burgess, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Sarnia-Lambton, stands inside Lambton College's gym during the non-profit organization's Spring Show and Sale on Saturday, April 30, 2022 in Sarnia, Ont. Terry Bridge/Sarnia Observer/Postmedia Network](https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/nexus/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/0503-so-sale-3-scaled.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=288)
Janelle Joosten from Sarnia was one of the event’s 79 vendors. Joosten, who sells jewelry such as handmade earrings, said it was a busy day.
“Really great,” she said. “Local love, especially after COVID, I feel like this is really great. Everyone’s supporting the community – it’s been good.”
“It’s been a steady day,” Burgess agreed.
The event is one of the organization’s largest fundraisers, with a goal Saturday of bringing in $40,000. Raffle tickets and vendor and customer fees were the main source of the fundraising, which will help support the non-profit’s core programs, Burgess said.
“We’re United Way-funded, but all that it doesn’t cover goes back to this,” she said.
Although this was the second annual spring event, it’s the first since 2019 after a two-year COVID-related hiatus. The organization’s fall sale has been around for decades, but the spring version only launched three years ago.