AUCTION OF ACADEMY AWARDS® BAG BENEFITS UNITED WAY’S HURRICANE RESPONSE FUND

The online auction of the Academy Awards® Gift Bag received

by George Clooney at this year’s Oscar Awards ceremony has closed.,

The Oscar-winning
actor/producer/director and member of United Way of America’s Board

of
Trustees generously donated the bag to United Way to support hurricane

response
and recovery efforts.

The online auction of the transferable contents of Mr.

Clooney’s gift bag was
scheduled to close Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 11:59 pm ET. The high
volume of bids in the closing minutes triggered a special feature

called “bid
extension” that allowed bidding to continue in five minute

increments until no
more bids were received, resulting in the $45,100 winning amount.
The auction took place at www.unitedway.org and was powered by cMarket.com.
By auctioning the gift bag, United Way and Mr. Clooney hope to continue to focus attention on the long-term needs of the Gulf Coast areas devastated by the 2005
hurricane season as well as raise funds for ongoing rebuilding and recovery
efforts.
As a member of the Board of Trustees of United Way of America,

Mr.Clooney has been a generous supporter of United Way’s efforts to

rebuild lives and communities devastated by the 2005 hurricanes.
***PLEASE CLICK ON THE TITLE LINK TO THE STORY TO FIND OUT WHAT WAS IN THE GIFT BAG***

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