Deep Groove Records hosts annual sidewalk sale for charity
Records available outside of Deep Grove Records on the final day of their sidewalk sale
Boxes of vinyl lined the side of Richmond’s Robinson Street when Deep Groove Records hosted their annual sidewalk sale to raise money for the Harvey Family Memorial Endowment on Oct. 22 and Oct. 23.
Every year, Deep Groove Records raises money to help provide music, visual art, performing arts and other forms of enrichment for Richmond City schools through the Bryan and Kathryn Harvey Family Memorial Endowment. This charity was started as a result of the unfortunate passing of Kathryn Harvey and her family in 2006. They have done the sidewalk sale for 11 years.
Many people mourned Harvey, who was the owner of local toy store World of Mirth; owner of Deep Groove Records Jay Leavitt was one of these people.
“I was friends with Kathryn Harvey and wanted to do something to honor them,” Leavitt said. “The money goes for arts and music education in Richmond City schools.”
This year, Deep Groove had between 3,000 and 3,500 records out on the sidewalk. These records were free with a donation to the Harvey Family Endowment. Customers could walk in and pay as little or as much as they wanted to. In the past, however, this was not the case.
In the first few years of the annual sale, Deep Grove sold the records for cheap on Saturday and then gave them away with a donation on Sunday. According to Leavitt, he decided to turn the sidewalk sale into a weekend-long donation-based sale after receiving a multitude of generous donations.
“We got a couple $100 and several $50 donations this year,” Leavitt said. “I think people generally give way more than the value of the records.”
Despite the rain on Sunday, locals from all over the Richmond area came to support the charity event.
“It keeps growing and the weather was perfect on Sunday,” Leavitt said. “It really brought everyone out.”
Deep Groove raised $2,200 this year, surpassing their previous record once again. They were also able to raise $200 for Scares That Care, a charity focused on aiding families in need of financial assistance due to childhood illness, burns and breast cancer.
