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CORVALLIS, Ore. - To reduce abandoned items in residential areas, increase neighborhood livability, and promote sustainability, Oregon State University and community stakeholders are coordinating two move-out donation drives for students living both on and off campus. 

The Great Move-Out: Off-Campus Donation Drive will help students donate and recycle items they no longer want. A range of items will be accepted, including mattresses, furniture, electronics, office/school supplies, books, and kitchen and household wares. This effort is modeled after the annual Residence Hall Move Out Donation Drive that diverted 23,000 pounds of materials from landfills last year. This year's on-campus goal is 24,000 pounds.

Both drives begin in June.

The off-campus event is June 14, from 4-8 p.m., and June 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the Grace Lutheran Church Parking Lot at the corner of Kings Boulevard and Harrison Street, and is for OSU students only. 

The residence hall drive takes place May 30 through June 20. Discarded items will benefit local non-profits and other charity organizations. Items accepted for donation include: clothing, unopened and non-perishable food, toiletries (may be partially used), household items like décor or lamps, electronics (broken or otherwise) and furniture.

Sierra Prior, a first-year master of public health student in the College of Public Health & Human Sciences, and special project assistant for Corvallis Community Relations, is spearheading the inaugural off-campus drive.

"Our first step was to bring together stakeholders from the OSU and Corvallis communities to mitigate one of the biggest problems in Corvallis at the end of spring - trash," Prior said. "Then we started brainstorming ways to divert as much as possible from ending up in a landfill."

Due to the high volume of donations that are anticipated, Corvallis Community Relations, Campus Recycling and Surplus Property are seeking volunteers to assist by sorting incoming items or by going out with the crew to collect donated items and recyclables from the residence halls.

• Volunteers are needed for the Residence Hall event for various shifts between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. June 8-20;
• Volunteers are need for the off-campus event, with shifts from 3 to 9 p.m. on June 14, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 15. Volunteer training will be provided on site. 

Information on how to volunteer or donate items for the residence hall drive, as well as a full list of the donation recipients, may be found at http://tiny.cc/donation-drive

Donations for the residence hall drive may be put into donation bins, which are located on the ground floor of every residence hall. Food and toiletries must be bagged. Larger items that do not fit in hall lobbies, such as wood bed loft kits and furniture, may be set next to dumpsters outside.

"We have heard from students that they often have more in their room than they can or wish to bring home with them at the end other year," said Andrea Norris, marketing and development coordinator for Campus Recycling and Surplus Property. "This program makes it easy for them to donate those items in their hall and relay them to non-profits that can keep them in use and benefit the community."

This year the off-campus event is working with Benton Habitat for Humanity, Furniture Share, Old Mill Center, Community Outreach Inc., and OSU Folk Club Thrift Store. These organizations also previously participated in the residence halls event. Key community stakeholders including Republic Services, Corvallis Sustainability Coalition, Rental Property Management Group, and the City of Corvallis guided the planning process for establishing the new off-campus event.

For more information on the off-campus drive, see  http://studentlife.oregonstate.edu/ccr or contact CCR ([email protected]) or OSU Campus Recycling ([email protected]).