Oakland furniture sale reduces waste, raises funds

‘ ‘ ‘ About 400 pieces of furniture, which in the past would have been abandoned on curbsides,… ‘ ‘ ‘ About 400 pieces of furniture, which in the past would have been abandoned on curbsides, were mercifully spared a landfill fate this weekend at the Oakland Planning and Development Corp.’s furniture sale. ‘ ‘ ‘ Now in its third year, the Oakland Furniture Sale was held Friday through Sunday in the parking lot behind OPDC’s headquarters on Atwood and Sennott streets. ‘ ‘ ‘ This year’s sale raised a total of $6,600 on its furniture donated by local residents, businesses and the University. ‘ ‘ ‘ The furniture sale has come a long way since it began in 2006 as an outgrowth of the Dumpster Project, said Kelly Wawrzeniak, community organizer at OPDC. Having initiated the Dumpster Project, OPDC found that while the Dumpsters were being utilized, they were also collecting perfectly useable furniture. ‘ ‘ ‘ To reduce waste and offer decent furniture at bargain prices, OPDC started the first sale with 150 pieces and worked up from there. ‘ ‘ ‘ This year, the sale was publicized by the mayor’s office, and OPDC also advertised on the Web and in local print media. Pitt even donated some old dorm furniture to this year’s sale. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘This furniture comes from everywhere,’ said Wawrzeniak. ‘ ‘ ‘ OPDC started collecting the furniture in April and offered free pick-up for all donations. The furniture was then stored in a donated warehouse in Lawrenceville until the sale this month. ‘ ‘ ‘ They also offered delivery of purchases to addresses in Oakland and six surrounding neighborhoods for a flat fee of $15 plus $5 for each additional piece. The proceeds of the sale go to fund the next year’s furniture sale. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Our goal is eventually to have this program fund itself,’ said Wawrzeniak. ‘ ‘ ‘ The sale was partially funded this year by a $10,000 grant from the PNC Foundation as well as funding from the Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development. ‘ ‘ ‘ It also relied upon the support of about 65 volunteers. James Moon, a junior at Carnegie Mellon, hadn’t heard of the sale before but volunteered at this year’s furniture sale after reading about it on Pittsburghcares.com. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I was kind of bored, and I wanted to help,’ said Wood. ‘ ‘ ‘ He said he was surprised at the number of things people threw out that were still in good shape. Moon himself bought four items to furnish the frat house in which he lives. ‘ ‘ ‘ Moon might not have known that the event was annual, but Bryan Reilly, a Pitt senior, did. He’s a repeat customer who came back to the sale this year because he needed furniture for a new apartment. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Stuff [at the sale] is really cheap, and it’s not in bad condition,’ said Reilly. ‘ ‘ ‘ Reilly said he brought most of the things he needed from home but still had to buy some items locally. He came to the furniture sale because he didn’t want to pay retail prices. ‘ ‘ ‘ Reilly estimated that the chair he bought at the furniture sale for $8 might well have cost him $50 at a retail store. ‘ ‘ ‘ Of the approximately 400 pieces of furniture put on sale this weekend, all but five were sold by the end of the sale on Sunday.