GREENVILLE — As thousands of bargain hunters prepare to travel U.S. Route 127 for the annual World’s Longest Yard Sale, one Greenville church once again made sure some of the first shoppers through its doors received VIP treatment.

Before the official start of the 127 Yard Sale, Northside Community Fellowship hosted an exclusive early shopping event Tuesday for participants from the Darke County Board of Developmental Disabilities (Darke DD), allowing them to browse merchandise at their own pace before the general public arrived.

The church, located at 8135 State Route 127, has made the special shopping day an annual tradition that emphasizes inclusion while supporting local ministries.

“We started 11 years ago,” said Michele Phillippi. “We took two years off. One was COVID and the year after, and today we have the open early shopping day for the Darke County developmental groups, so they can shop by themselves, and then we provide them with a free lunch.”

Darke DD participants arrived in three staggered groups, giving each group ample time to shop.

“There will be the two-hour segment, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and it’s just open for them,” Phillippi said. “They get first dibs.”

The event also serves as an opportunity for the church to welcome community members while raising funds that remain in Darke County.

“This is a way for us to open our doors for people to come in and meet us, and for us to show them our church,” said Starla Ross. “But then it’s also a way for us to be able to provide ministries for the community and missions for the community. Most of the proceeds from the sale go toward missions and ministry.”

This year’s fundraising effort has a special emphasis on helping local students.

“This year, we’re going to use a large portion of our proceeds to help with local schools and provide all the toiletries, toothpaste, deodorant and many things like that for the closets in our local school districts for children who need toiletry items,” Ross said. “That’s where a large chunk of our proceeds this year are going to go.”

In addition to supporting local schools, the church also donates to several community organizations.

“We support the Darke County Pregnancy Help Center, LifeWise, and then the schools this year,” Phillippi said.

Ross emphasized that every dollar raised through the church’s 127 Yard Sale stays in the local community.

“We encourage people to come out, meet us, so we can meet them,” Ross said. “We can show them around the church, and they’re welcome to see what the church looks like. We can tell visitors what our church is about, what we stand for and the mission of our church.”

For Sue Huston, Community Connections Coordinator and Community First Transition Coordinator for Darke DD, the annual invitation has become one of the highlights of the week.

“This is very special for us — early bird specials,” Huston said. “This is the third year Northside is doing this for us.”

The opportunity allows participants to enjoy one of their favorite activities in a welcoming environment.

“We get to come in early, and a lot of our folks love to go to garage sales,” Huston said. “They’ve all brought their money, and they’re just having a blast.”

Huston said the partnership between the church and Darke DD grew from a friendship she developed with Phillippi years ago while working together on a school-related project.

“Michele and I met each other years ago when they were building the new school,” Huston said. “She was a preschool teacher for Ansonia, and our advocacy action club formed a partnership that has lasted all these years.”

That relationship eventually led the church to open its doors to Darke DD participants each year.

“She reached out to invite us, and they treat us right — VIP treatment with bags of goodies and a full lunch,” Huston said.

Huston said the event reflects the spirit of the local community.

“Northside Community Fellowship provides all of it for us, so we look forward to it every year,” she said. “In our community, we have so much support.”

She said opportunities like Tuesday’s shopping event help reinforce the importance of inclusion.

“I always say when people start reaching out to us, then we know people know who we are and what we do, and they just really want to support us and include us,” Huston said. “Inclusion is what we really are striving for — inclusion and acceptance.”

The 127 Yard Sale, known as the World’s Longest Yard Sale, stretches approximately 690 miles through six states and attracts shoppers from across the country each year.

Northside Community Fellowship is led by Pastor Randy Brown, with Jason Wright serving as worship leader. Sunday morning worship begins at 10:30 a.m.