An organized rummage
June Casagrande
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. That’s where Nancy Acone
comes in.
A retired librarian and educator, Acone volunteers as chairwoman
for the Friends of OASIS annual rummage sale -- the auxiliary group’s
big annual fund-raiser that brought in about $19,000 this year.
“One of the best things about being involved in it is all the
people that you meet,” Acone said. “You go to the store, you see
people you met through doing this. It’s nice to know your community.”
Acone, who has two grown sons and who lives in Newport’s Port
Streets with her husband, Paul, has been a volunteer for Friends of
OASIS for about seven years. She also volunteers for the Friends of
the Newport Beach Library, which, similar to the Oasis rummage sales,
takes donated books and sells them to raise money for library
programs. Rather than collecting and selling donated books, the Oasis
rummage sale gives Acone a chance to see some unusual merchandise.
“The things people buy can be really interesting,” she said. “A
woman came in and bought whole a box of wigs, she bought them at $2 a
wig and there must have been 20 wigs in there. She bought the whole
box and donated them to a cancer charity.”
Most of the merchandise in the rummage sale is donated by OASIS
members and other locals whose closets are packed with unused
clothes, linens, jewelry, household items -- you name it. Friends of
OASIS is the volunteer auxiliary for the OASIS Senior Center, which
is staffed and funded in part by the city of Newport Beach.
The at the end of the annual rummage sale, which this year took
place on Friday and Saturday, the leftover merchandise doesn’t just
go in the garbage, Acone said. The remainder is donated to the
Salvation Army.
“People’s stuff is always useful to someone,” Acone said.
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