BRISTOL — The Brendon P. Cousino Med47 Foundation will host its 3rd annual Indoor Yard Sale on Saturday, Feb. 15, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the American Legion on Wilson Road in Middlebury.
The foundation awards annual $1,000 scholarships to Hannaford Career Center and Essex Technical Center students who are pursuing a career in the trades. It also donates $1,500 annually to area first responders.
In 2019, the foundation sponsored a military family for Christmas and supported two area food shelves.
Brendon Cousino’s family created the foundation to honor his memory.
A Bristol native, Brendon attended the Patricia A. Hannaford Career Center, where he developed a passion for carpentry, and graduated from Mount Abraham Union High School in 2002.
In 2015, while driving to Costco to pick up his daughter’s birthday cake, he was killed by a wrong-way driver on Interstate 89, not far from his home in Richmond.
Brendon was a member of the Richmond Rescue Squad at the time of his death, and had served on the Starksboro Rescue Squad before that.
In addition to organizing the Indoor Yard Sale each February, Brendon’s parents, Garry and Cindy Cousino, hold a summer outdoor fundraising event at their home in Bristol. Last fall they held their first annual Corn Hole Tournament.
“We fundraise year round so that Brendon lives on, because he was truly one of the most incredible and selfless men you could ever meet,” said Annie Denny, who sits on the foundation’s board.
The Indoor Yard Sale has raised more than $8,000 over the last two years.
Donations of gently used non-clothing items, including household items and furniture, will be gratefully accepted by organizers, right up to the day of the event. For more information, or to arrange a donation, call Cindy Cousino at 233-8334.
Reach Christopher Ross at [email protected].