Rummage RAMPage began 10 years ago through a joint effort between the City of Ames and Iowa State’s Office of Sustainability. Their goal was to keep reusable items out of the landfill and back to someone’s home.

Today they are still fulfilling that mission. Located at the Ames Intermodal Facility, there is everything from ellipticals to desks to fairy gardens to ping pong tables.

“It’s been going incredibly strong, and it has such an incredible and meaningful and very deep impact within our community,” Merry Rankin, director of sustainability at Iowa State, said.

Throughout two levels of the parking ramp, volunteers are there to help you with lifting, purchasing, or to answer any questions. Looking around, collaboration between community members is what makes this event successful.

Erin Kalkwarf has been volunteering at Rummage RAMPage for four years through a Home for EveryBunny, a rabbit rescue.

“You never know what’s going to come in here for donations,” Kalkwarf said. “We get the most random items, and people are excited to see because you never know what you’re going to get.”

Kalkwarf volunteered as a large item lead, covering just some of the almost 2,000 hours of volunteering that keeps this event running. All proceeds from the sale go to the nonprofits their volunteers are from.

“There’s people from all over the community, students, people from out of town even come up here,” Kalkwarf said. “People will literally buy something as it’s being unloaded from a car.”

Rummage RAMPage isn’t over yet, though. 

July 27 to July 30, you can donate or buy from noon to 6 p.m. July 31 is the first day you cannot donate items anymore and is open for sales noon to 6 p.m. Then August 1 is open for sales from 8 a.m to noon, and everything is half price.

For more information, go here.