By Mary Pannabecker Steiner

As a young mom with two young children, Jami Crawfis has found Mom to Mom sales to be a wonderful resource for children's clothing and toys. So when the Lima YWCA closed its doors, eliminating its Mom to Mom sale, Crawfis begin to think about organizing a local sale.

"I could always find good deals for a good price and when the YW closed, I was disappointed and thought to myself, 'why couldn't we have one in Bluffton? So here we are," said Crawfis.

A member of St. Mary's Catholic Church, she sought permission from Sister Carol Inkrott to hold the sale at St. Mary's.

Crawfis and her husband, Jason, have done most of the planning for the event, which is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20 at St. Mary's, 160 N. Spring St.

Fourteen mothers will stock booths with baby, children's and maternity clothing, toys, books and equipment. The booths will consist of two or three tables, for which they've paid $10-15. Their booth fees will benefit one of three charities, including the Padua Outreach Center in Toledo, a rescue mission in Haiti, and the Bluffton Food Pantry.

In addition, lunch will be available at the church, with a menu of shredded chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, cookies, chips and beverages. The Crawfises have donated the lunch ingredients, and will give all of the lunch profit to St. Mary's.

Several volunteers have been recruited for the concession area, and each vendor will care for her own booth.

Admission to the event is $2 per adult. As she pays her fee, each shopper may choose the charity to which she wishes to donate the fee. Crawfis says they'll also accept non-perishable food items for the three charity organizations.

"The way we chose the three charities was not really planned, but I think it worked out well...a couple of weeks ago, Sister Carol had mentioned that she wanted to help raise money for the Padua Outreach Center in Toledo because they have been spending so much money in utility bills and are in desperate need of new windows," said Crawfis. "That was my first idea and then my husband suggested that not everyone attending the event will be Catholic and that maybe we should have a couple of different options. So immediately Haiti popped into my head. Then I was talking to a friend who ...mentioned that the Bluffton Food Pantry needed some help right now."

Crawfis hopes to see shoppers of all ages, but admits that she has a soft spot for young mothers.

"I actually hope we do have a lot of young moms show up because, having been a young mom myself, I know that those are the ones that really do benefit from this type of event. I hope to have shoppers of all ages, but teen moms really hold a place in my heart," said Crawfis.