If the idea of a garage sale in the middle of January in northern Illinois sounds absurd, think again—and think big.

On Friday and Saturday, the Community Service Council will hold it's 19th annual “Garage” sale to raise money for Operation Christmas in the Performing Arts Center at Bolingbrook's Village Hall.

The sale will be open both days from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

But, you might say, "Christmas is over, and the Performing Arts Center is not a garage." And technically, you'd be correct. But the folks at CSC are already gearing up for next year.

“We receive donated items and we sell them to support the Operation Christmas fund,” said CSC executive director Robert Kalnicky. “It's usually household items; very typical of a garage sale.”

Stacked on folding tables from one end of the hall to the other, the items for sale range from books to cake pans and sheet sets to furniture. Clothes, shoes, toys and dinnerware line the walls, and racks of coats, stacks of vinyl records and vintage doll collections wait silently for new owners.

Upon seeing the vast amount of stuff, it's almost hard to believe donations have lagged this past year.

“Right now we're at the low end. We've had fewer donations and we've had fewer monetary donations,” said Gwen Bettig, an Operation Christmas veteran of 35 years.

But considering that the CSC's Operation Christmas fund purchased two gifts for each child of 450 needy families last year, it's understandable why the sale has to be so big, and why fundraising has to start so early.

According to Bettig, the organization multiplies the number of families in need by four and buys gifts accordingly. That's 1,800 presents given last year.

The volunteers are hoping for a big turnout the next two days, and if past sales are any indication, this one should be busy, even if fundraising goals have had to be lowered in recent years.

“Even if it's freezing cold outside, they're here a half hour before it opens,” said Liz Kroner.

Last year the garage sale raised $3,000, about $1,500 less than the previous year,  Bettig said.

Although there is no charge to get in to the sale, this is the first year that the organizers are setting out a jug for cash donations in order to help fill the gap.

Items that are not sold Friday or Saturday will be passed on to other charitable organizations like St. Vincent DePaul and the Gabriel Program, Bettig said.

But if all goes well, there won't be much left to transfer and Operation Christmas will be headed off on a great start for 2011.

And remember, it will probably be another few months of miserable weather before you'll have a chance to go garage sale-ing again.