Mom’s Club of Warner Robins to host three-day yard sale to help local girl with rare genetic brain disorder

WARNER ROBINS — Each year, the Mom’s Club of Warner Robins hosts a benefit yard sale to support local charities and children. This year, the sale is dedicated to supporting Ellie Graff, a local girl facing significant medical challenges.

Shortly after she was born, 8-year-old Ellie Graff was diagnosed with a rare genetic brain disorder called Pontocerebellar Hypoplasia, type 2a.

Administrative Vice President of the Mom’s Club, Misty Reynolds, shared that Graff is wheelchair bound and has many medications and therapies. Her development is the equivalent of a three-month-old child, meaning she is nonverbal, tube-fed and has sleep apnea.

However, she is described as very inquisitive and as loving the world around her. Graff enjoys music, water, Cocomelon and all things children enjoy.

Reynolds said her condition requires a lot of medical expenses, especially with therapies and equipment for feeding her.

“The medical bills add up. One of the biggest goals for our yard sale is helping [her parents] with her ongoing needs and expenses for her medical stuff. They travel quarterly for her medical appointments that would help with that,” she said.

Reynolds also shared that her parents are aiming to build a wheelchair ramp at their home because, as she gets older, she is getting heavier. This makes it harder for them to get her in and out of the house; a wheelchair ramp would make it more accessible.

Mom’s Club of Warner Robins, a local chapter of an international non-profit, focuses on supporting local moms and the community through service.

Every year since 2017, the club has chosen a beneficiary—this year, focusing on Ellie Graff. In previous years, they have supported local individuals in need, charities, and local non-profits. The club hosts the yard sale and raises as much money as possible for the chosen recipient.

“It’s a way that we can come together and give back to the community but the focus also has to be on moms, children or a charity that benefits moms and children,” she said.

Last year, their beneficiary was a girl with childhood Alzheimer’s. When looking for their beneficiary this year, they started posting on social media but then reached out to the girl’s mother to see if she knew anyone in the “medically complex” community who needed assistance. This then led them to Graff’s mother, who told them her daughter’s story.

Reynolds shared that the club had voted on other options, but the Graffs were the popular choice.

This year, the club added an extra day due to high demand for the yard sale. Reynolds said they also extended their hours to see if more people would stop by. Every year, the event is hosted at different locations, and this year they will be at The Well at Centerville.

The yard sale will start on Thursday, April 16, with a pre-sale starting at 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. A donation ticket is available for those who donate before the sale or drop off two non-perishable items; the items will go to their community pantries. The event will continue on Friday, April 17, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A new addition this year, Family Fun Day takes place Saturday, April 18, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., with family activities beginning at 10 a.m. Bearcat, the Houston County Sheriff’s Response Team, Centerville Fire Department, face painting, food trucks, and crafts will be available.

“All of those things are going to be free activities to try and bring in families so hopefully we can get more bodies in there that are finding treasures and helping raise more money,” she said. “That’s definitely a growth but it’s something that, every year, the mom’s club members show up and they show out.”

Members work week after week to collect donations, then organize them, Reynolds shared. She said they have noticed growth not just in community participation but in the club. With new members joining, there are more helping hands to make the event even bigger.

Reynolds said planning the event has been going great. She shared that she started planning earlier this year to have more time. The club was also tackling another project: adopting a second community pantry.

The pantry is located on Commercial Circle in Warner Robins, and members completely rebuilt it.

She said The Well at Centerville has been incredible, and they have allowed them to use one of their buildings for storage, which is now at three-quarters capacity. She shared that people are still dropping off donations, and their final day was on April 9.

Reynolds said one of the biggest reasons she has been on the Mom’s Club Board for the last few years is that she enjoys helping the community. The reason she wanted to be appointed Administrative Vice President is because they are over all service projects, and that work is dear to her heart.

“Nothing comes together like working in the trenches of a huge event where you are just bonding with your fellow members,” she said. “I’m not downplaying the work but just seeing everybody come together and working together has always been very special to me personally. It’s those two things why I have helped with the last six yard sales so this will be my seventh one.”

Reynolds believes that focusing on Ellie Graff as the beneficiary will substantially increase the funds raised to help her. She shared that not all Mom’s Club chapters hold a yard sale, but they find it is the best way to quickly assist the chosen recipient.

She shared that the event has been a success every year, and they will continue to host it.

Helping the community is the basis on which the Mom’s Club was founded, and it is what the local chapter aims to uphold. Throughout the year, the club helps local organizations, mothers and children by volunteering or maintaining their community properties, but the yard sale is a project they look forward to tackling every year.

“We do like to focus the yard sale specifically for the basis of what our group stands for,” she said.

The Annual Benefit Yard Sale runs Thursday, April 16, through Saturday, April 18, at The Well at Centerville, 600 North Houston Lake Boulevard. Both cash and digital payments will be accepted.

To keep up with the Mom’s Club of Warner Robins, visit their Facebook page.