Trade 4 Hope hosted its semi-annual spring sale on May 5 in order to raise money for the Canal Alliance.

The Canal Alliance is a local organization based in San Rafael that helps aid low-income, Spanish-speaking immigrants with a strong focus on aiding children.

“Depending on the proceeds we make today we are either going to give them the money to buy school supplies for the kids or set up a scholarship fund,” said Claire Cella, club president, on the day of the swap.

Though the spring sale tends to be less popular than the fall sale, according to Cella, the club still received 10 to 20 bags filled with donated clothes.

The club aims to raise over $1,000 during each sale. Last semester the fall swap raised a total of $1,200 and the club hoped to make at least that much this spring, Cella said.

“We like hitting $1,000 because then it is a significant donation,” Cella said. “It can really make an impact.”

Though the club was only able to raise around $500 during the most recent swap, all of the proceeds will go directly to the Canal Alliance.

At the swap, there were a variety of items for sale ranging from jewelry to heels, in addition to basic shirts and jeans.

“We look for cute, contemporary stuff that we know will sell,” Cella said.

The club focuses on collecting trendy clothes,  and keeping prices extremely low in order to appeal to the entire student body.

The price of shirts ranged from $1 to a max of $3, jewelry was $1, and jeans were $5.

Even though the swap is geared mainly towards students, the club receives a lot of profit from purchases made by parents and other members of the community.

The club advertised for their swap online, using posters, and with ads in the Marin Independent Journal, according to club vice president Gretchen Aubel.

“Every swap we are always amazed at how much money we make,” Aubel said.

With the final swap of the year done, the seniors in the club have given leadership positions to juniors in order to keep the momentum of the club rolling.

“We’ve already passed down the presidency to the juniors,” Aubel said. “It’s up to them to help it flourish.”

Juniors Neera Gujral, Jesse Dougherty and Emily Newell will take over next year as co-presidents.