Residence Life Turns Discarded Items into Charitable Donations with Drop & Go Program
Residence Life rented a 17-foot U-Haul truck and filled it from floor to ceiling with 350 bags of clothing and household items, which had all been collected in the final 36 hours before the closing of the Residence Halls for the summer. Donations were delivered to Goodwill and the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army picked up 125 bags of clothing and household items over the course of two different pick ups. A donation of $1,000 in food to Programs for the Homeless and Hungry completely stocked the bare shelves of their food pantry. Additional bedding, pillows, food and toiletries were donated to a group of homeless individuals outside of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church.
Chris Mosier, residence director at the 55th Street Hall, started the Drop & Go donation program at the 55th Street Residence Hall in the spring of 2006. Residence Life estimates that residents of the 55th Street Hall discard enough items to cover a football field each year, many of which are in good condition and all of which were placed in a landfill rather than reused. Mosierinitiated Drop & Go to make donating easy and accessible for students, who are invited to drop off items in the student lounge, which are then bagged and donated to local charities.
Mosier coordinates the program, which entails contacting donation sites as well as sorting, bagging and delivering the large volume of items. Mosier and other members of Residence Life are working on a campaign to educate residents and parents prior to move-in to minimize the amount of waste. Residence advisors, students and others pitched in to load the trucks and bag items. “This year’s outcome greatly exceeds last year’s Drop & Go totals of 214 bags of clothing, 45 boxes of household items, and 200 books,” said Mosier. “This is a testament both to the generosity of our students, and to the outrageous amount of waste produced in our ‘disposable’ society!”
Published: May 27, 2008