Abbeville family selling its Beanie Baby collection to help grandson get to Haiti

An Abbeville family will be selling its 200-plus Beanie Babies as a way to raise money to help their grandson attend a mission this summer in Haiti.
Elsie Marks, 68, had planned to give her 200-plus Beanie Babies to her grandson, 14-year-old Zach Marks, who lives in Vermont. She had been collecting them since 1997, and over time, has built up an impressive collection. They were air-sealed and stored in the attic.
Zach, on the other hand, asked his grandmother if she would not mind selling her collection of Beanie Babies in order for him to use the money to help pay for a mission trip for him this summer.
Elsie agreed.
Saturday, starting at 7 a.m., Lucien Marks and his wife will have a Beanie Baby sale in the parking lot of the Lafitte Cinema in Abbeville.
They will place all 200-plus babies on a table for everyone to see. She is letting them go for $3 each. When she purchased them in the late 1990s, she purchased them for $6 a doll. On the Internet, some babies go for $10 to $100, depending on which baby it is.
“Many are brand new,” said Elsie. “I remember buying them to start a collection. Overtime, I kept buying them.”
Elsie is not letting all of collection go. She has some placed in a glass case in her living room that were purchased for birthdays.
“We want to do everything we can to help get raise the money for the mission trip,” said Elsie. “He said selling the Beanie Babies could help get the money he needed to get to Haiti.
“They are not doing anything except taking space in the attic.”
If anyone has questions about the Marks’ collection, they can call 898-2005. She will begin selling the dolls at 7 a.m.