Local non-profits will benefit from annual event

Students living in residence halls can now get rid of all their useless junk, thanks to an annual program organized by Residence Life that gives to non-profit organizations.

Between May 6 and May 11, four local non-profit organizations will have bins placed in each of the residence halls, allowing students to get rid of everything from clothing to canned food.

The Catholic Newman Center, Salvation Army, Community Food Bank and Tools for Schools will be collecting the items.

Debbie Hanson, senior program coordinator for Residence Life, said because the program has become so large within the past few years, the number of organizations that can participate has had to be limited.

ãIâve had to limit the program to make it manageable, but if a hall director wants to sponsor a non-profit, then that is perfectly fine,ä Hanson said.

The program has been extremely successful for the participating organizations, she said. Last year, the Salvation Army collected more than 3,200 bags of clothing from UA students, each one weighing 20 pounds.

Tools for Schools, a school supply refurbishment program run under the non-profit World Care, provides low-income students with paper, rulers and other necessary school supplies. They also put together packets to send to elementary and middle schools.

Pam Boyer-Pfersdorf, the spokeswoman for World Care, said last year, the program provided 22,000 children with backpacks.

Boyer-Pfersdorf added that Tools for Schools is designed to run year round, so students with extra supplies can donate anytime of the year.

ãWe encourage everyone in the UA community to help out whenever possible,ä Boyer-Pfersdorf said. ãAnything and everything helps.ä

Hanson agreed with Boyer-Pfersdorf, adding that students can donate pretty much anything, regardless of how great the quality of the item is.

ãTypically, of the thousands of items collected by the Salvation Army and other organizations, roughly 40 percent is unusable,ä Hanson said. ãWe found that last year, the Salvation Army was able to use all but 1 percent of what they collected from UA students.ä

Jenny Taylor, an undeclared freshman, said she thinks the program gives hope to low-income families.

ãI think we forget how fortunate we all are,ä Taylor said.

ãThis is a great opportunity to give kids who donât have a whole lot some extra stuff for school.ä

UA students not living in the residence halls who wish to donate clothing or school supplies can contact the Catholic Newman Center at 327-6662, the Salvation Army at 1-800-958-7825, the Community Food Bank at 622-0525 and Tools for Schools through World Care at 514-1588.