(WSB photo from Saturday morning)
From the WSB inbox overnight, a public thank-you to the many who joined in this successful benefit effort:

Thank You West Seattle, for your generosity and compassion; you have done it again! Our West Seattle Community Garage Sale raised three times the amount we expected, for our friends in Japan, affected by the earthquake and tsunami. And thank you Tracy, editor at the WSB, for advertising and photographing this event, and getting it out into the community. Not only do we thank all our generous and enthusiastic neighbors who donated and bought items (like little 6 year-old Naziah Hendrix, who donated her Leap Pad and games), but to all the neighbors who worked three straight days, to make this not only a successful, but fun community event. Local teens ran the bake sale ( and brought in over $700.00 for the goodies they and other neighbors made), while volunteers worked tirelessly in the pouring rain, setting up garage sale items. Emiko and Jeff Keller fed the workers home-made sushi and rice balls, and Lori Braseth donated tents and tarps to keep everyone dry. What a contagious group effort this was! Once again, thank you to all of you, who helped ease the suffering of our friends in Japan, through your kindness and generosity.

Sincerely,

Gary & Shelley Lebert
West Seattle Community Garage Sale for our Friends in Japan, Coordinators

Grand total, by the way, according to Shelley – $4,600 for the sale (including $800 from the bake sale alone!) plus $1,000 matching contribution from a company. Congratulations!