It is the time of year for students to begin thinking about moving out. Many students will be burdened by unwanted items, but instead of pitching their stuff or packing it for home, there is the option to donate to the “When you Move Out Don’t Throw it out” program.
Students, Faculty and staff can donate to the various cardboard boxes that will be located around campus. All residence halls will have four boxes. One box will be for non-perishable food, one for clothing, one for personal items such as soap, toothpaste or pillows, and the other will be for books of any kind. Greek houses will each have a box and there will be boxes located in some of the dinning halls.
“I think like any other community service it’s good to think about others in need and develop a sense of philanthropy,” said Nick Hennessy, Associate Director of Residence Life for Educational Initiatives and director of the program.
This is the third year for the program. In the past two years it has been a great success said Hennessy. Last year over 40,000 pounds of non-perishable food was collected. This year he is hoping for even more donations.
To increase participation there will be more drop off boxes. Last year there were no boxes in the Greek houses. With the boxes there this year it is believed that it there will be an impact on the number of donations.
The Office of Residence Life is also encouraging students living off campus, faculty and staff to donate by visiting one of the residence hall lobbies to drop off any unwanted items.
Not only do students, faculty and staff donate, but the University Bookstore gave a great amount of clothing and 30 boxes of text books to the program.
Students can donate text books and clothing as well as a number of different items that may not seem obvious. For instance, sheets, blankets, bedding and rugs will be accepted. Any household item can be donated such as fans or irons. Even left over paper and school supplies will help others out.
“A family who doesn’t have laundry soap is able to use what a student may have left over that they would have just thrown out,” said Hennessy.
The boxes will be emptied several times a day by student volunteers. There will be over 150 students working to organize and collect the donations.
“I had a lot of fun with it last year and it’s such a good cause,” said volunteer and public relations chair Amanda Jones.
The donations will be taken to the Harshman Community Room, where items will be sorted into categories. Different charity organizations will come in and pick up items that they need. Last year there were some families that came in and picked out things that they needed.
The items will be donated to 18 different organizations. much of the food goes to shelters and soup kitchens. Clothes go to Goodwill and the Salvation Army. Organizations such as Martha’s Soup Kitchen, Cherry Street Mission in Toledo, and the Wood County Humane Society are just a few area charities that benefit from the program.
Donations will begin being collected on Wednesday April 28 and continue until commencement.
“Why throw away your stuff in the dumpster, why not give it to some one who can benefit from it?” said Jones.
