2022 White Elephant Sale Raises $1.4 Million
(OAKLAND, CA) April 19, 2022— The 63rd annual White Elephant Sale (WES), held over five weeks throughout March and through the first weekend of April, 2022 raised over $1.4 million to support the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA). The White Elephant Sale, organized and presented by the Oakland Museum Women’s Board, is the biggest annual fundraising event benefiting OMCA. A substantial portion of these proceeds supports OMCA exhibitions, programming, and operations each year.
“We were so excited to safely welcome shoppers back to the warehouse for our 63rd White Elephant Sale, and continue our mission to support OMCA,” said Renata Dowdakin, President of the Oakland Museum Women’s Board. “I’m so proud of our Board and our dedicated volunteers for their commitment to this Oakland tradition under these extraordinary circumstances.”
“We are so grateful for the Oakland Museum Women’s Board’s extraordinary commitment to OMCA throughout the past 63 years,” said OMCA Director and CEO Lori Fogarty. “As the single largest donor to OMCA, the Women’s Board and their White Elephant Sale are absolutely essential to the success of the Museum, and even more so during these unprecedented times. As we navigate this new normal together, we extend our heartfelt thanks to the leadership of the Women’s Board and the hard work of hundreds of volunteers who make the White Elephant Sale possible each year.”
During each of the six consecutive years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sale annually raised over $2 Million to support OMCA’s programming and exhibitions. In 2021, due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sale took place entirely online for the first time in its history. For 2022, organizers provided the Sale’s cherished in-person shopping experience, while ensuring the safety and comfort of shoppers with new guidelines and safety protocols in response to the ongoing pandemic.
The annual White Elephant Sale is scheduled to return to the Bay Area for its Preview Sale, January 29, 2023. Made possible by donations from the public, the Sale accepts donations of gently used, good quality items year-round. For the latest updates and more information on how to donate —including a list of items that cannot be accepted—please visit WhiteElephantSale.org.
ABOUT THE OAKLAND MUSEUM WOMEN’S BOARD
The sole purpose of the Oakland Museum Women’s Board (OMWB), a dedicated group with 114 year-round members, has been to raise money to support the Oakland Museum of California acquisitions, exhibitions, educational programs, capital improvements, and more. Since 1959, the OMWB has contributed over $27 million to the Museum. With the help of a thousand dedicated volunteers, they work year-round to organize and present the White Elephant Sale held annually during the first weekend in March which attracts shoppers from the Bay Area and beyond.
ABOUT THE OAKLAND MUSEUM OF CALIFORNIA
The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) tells the many stories that comprise California, creating the space and context for greater connection, trust, and understanding between people. Through its inclusive exhibitions, public programs, educational initiatives, and cultural events, OMCA brings Californians together and inspires greater understanding about what our state’s art, history, and natural surroundings teach us about ourselves and each other. With more than 1.9 million objects, OMCA brings together its multidisciplinary collections of art, history, and natural science with first-person accounts and often untold narratives of California, all within its 110,000 square feet of gallery space and seven-acre campus. The Museum is a leading cultural institution of the Bay Area and a resource for the research and understanding of California’s dynamic cultural and environmental heritage for visitors from the region, the state, and around the world.
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