How a Long Island Church Stores a Year's Worth of Donations for Their Annual Harvest Festival
'Inside the Box' with Chris from Saint Peter's Lutheran Church in Greenport, NY.
Every Columbus Day weekend, the small community of Greenport, on the North Fork of Long Island, gathers for the [Saint Peter's Lutheran Church](https://stpetersgreenport.org/) annual Harvest Festival. A flea market filled with donated furniture, antiques, and household goods draws in neighbors and visitors from across the region.
At the end of the weekend, roughly $15,000 in proceeds goes directly back to the local community. It is a meaningful tradition, and it runs entirely on donated time, donated goods, and the hard work of a congregation that has been part of the North Fork for over a century. Saint Peter's is believed to be the second-oldest Lutheran congregation on Long Island.
## Running Out of Room
For a few years, the church managed the logistics of the festival with a 20-foot truck body and a garage. It worked until it didn't. "We were finding that we needed more space for additional furniture," Chris explains. A fellow parishioner found Eveon while searching a government surplus listing out of Newark.
The congregation settled on a [40ft container](https://www.eveoncontainers.com/en-US/used-40ft-shipping-container), which they [painted](https://www.eveoncontainers.com/en-US/news/market-insights/can-i-paint-my-shipping-container) white to match the existing church structures. "As of yesterday, it's 100% full," Chris told us, a few days before this year's festival.
## The Decision to Buy
The church had previously borrowed a 20ft container from a local company and had tried to purchase it afterward, only to be quoted what they felt was a very high price. Finding Eveon online, the price felt right immediately.
"We felt that you guys had a fair price right off the bat. And one of our parishioners is a First Responder. We liked that there was a discount for that," Chris said. The container arrived in good condition, delivery went smoothly, and the crew at Saint Peter's, handy and experienced with property projects, had no trouble with the placement.
>**“Eveon were exceptionally easy to deal with. The container was in good condition and we're very happy with it. It suits our needs pretty much exactly. I mean, its full to the brim, which is great,” Chris says.**
## The Delivery
Chris has spent decades in global sales and customer-facing roles, so he pays attention to how transactions are handled. The delivery stood out to him.
"The driver was great. He was a car guy, I'm a car guy. We had plenty to talk about." Our delivery partners are one of the things we take most seriously at Eveon. We work with a network of fully insured, experienced carriers and invest in those relationships for the long term because the person who shows up at your property is the last impression we make. Hearing that the delivery went well, and that Chris and the driver hit it off, is exactly the kind of feedback we hope for.
"Everybody that we dealt with was very positive. It was easy to do business and it was an easy, easy drop off."
## The Container Today
The [40ft container](https://www.eveoncontainers.com/en-US/used-40ft-shipping-container) now sits on the Saint Peter's property, collecting donated furniture throughout the year. It is full heading into the festival and will begin filling again once the sale is done. The congregation skews older, and Chris is candid that volunteer labor is always a question mark going forward. But the plan is to keep the Harvest Festival running, and the container will be there for it. "If we needed another one, we would definitely purchase again. And I would also recommend you."
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