Donations are rolling in for Cumming First United Methodist Church's annual community yard sale.

And it's not all used stuff either, according to one of the event's organizers.

"We're getting a lot of stuff in very good condition," said church member Michele Murdock. "We had a family who just moved to the community give us some very expensive furniture in brand-new condition."

Murdock said the furniture wouldn't fit in the family's new home, so they donated it  for the yard sale, which begins Friday morning and runs through noon Saturday.

Sleeper sofas and entertainment centers have been the most plentifully donated items, according to Murdock, who organizes volunteer crews from the church to pick up furniture from residences.

"It's a good thing we've got a lot of muscle in the church," she said. "A lot of our church's members are donating their muscles and their trucks."

Along with furniture, the church has gathered typical yard sale fare: Sporting goods, small electronics and so on. Murdock said a lot of "items for babies" have been donated as well.

Event organizer Janet Walden said meeting the people who donate and buy items at the sale holds much appeal.

"Just seeing the faces of the people who really want to help and really enjoy yard sales, it's nice," she said.

Walden said the annual sale brings out the hardcore yard sale fanatics. She said people line up at the door hours before the sale begins on Friday morning.

"People get pretty serious about it," she said, adding that the event wouldn't be possible without the 40 or 50 volunteers.

Some of those giving of their time found out about the sale through the church's "Great Day of Service," a group of community projects that members tackle in March.

When Walden became the event organizer last year, she diverted all the funds from the yard sale to the Great Day of Service, which includes projects like nursing home ice cream socials, wheelchair ramp construction and landscaping to help the community.

Great Day of Service also branches out to surrounding counties. Some volunteers will go as far as Atlanta to help in soup kitchens.
Yard sale volunteers who do not help pick up and deliver furniture will be pricing merchandise for this weekend's event.

"Everybody who helps out said they love it because it's fun," Walden said. "It's a great time."

Donations will be accepted through 4:30 p.m. this afternoon at the church's family life center.