NEWS RELEASE
Oakland Museum of California
www.museumca.org

10TH & OAK STREETS
OAKLAND, CA  94607

2009 White Elephant Sale is a Whopper
50th annual rummage sale raises $1.3 million for Oakland Museum of CA

The massive 2009 White Elephant Sale defied its organizers’ concerns about the economy and raised $1,336,686 from its March 7-8 sale and January Preview Sale. It was the second-highest total in the event’s 50-year history.

“We were all pretty excited with the grand total, said Deborah Smith, Sale cochair, who announced the results March 17. “We were not sure with the current economy if we would even match the 2008 total.” The Sale is produced by the Oakland Museum Women’s Board, a group of hardy volunteers.

Proceeds from the sale support the Oakland Museum of California's educational programs, exhibitions, acquisitions, and collections preservation. The Women's Board has contributed more than $15 million to the museum over the years.

The highest-grossing departments* were furniture ($166k), jewelry ($145k), books/photog/music ($124k), and art ($110k). Linda Charles attributed the results of the sale to extraordinary community donations and large turnouts for the Preview Sale and the regular sale weekend. The one-day Preview Sale alone raised $300k.

Women's Board volunteers (including many husbands) and hundreds of community members spend the year collecting, cleaning, sorting, and pricing donated new and used merchandise for the annual sale. Now that they have celebrated this year's success, the Women’s Board has begun work on the next sale, the weekend of March 6–7, 2010.

The White Elephant Sale truck will be on the move soon! For pickup of large items, call 510/839-5919. For information about drop-off dates, call 510/536-6800 in May or visit http://www.museumca.org/events/elephant.html.

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*Complete list of subtotals available.