As the needs of our communities continue to grow, we’re looking for new ways to source goods.
In recent years, we’ve grown our volunteer base with more college student groups signing up to help at either the 30th Street Food Pantry or the Distribution Center. Having college students in our midst more sparked an idea. As they move in and out of dorms each year, do they have things to discard that may be useful to our neighbors? Items that are in good condition, just no longer needed?
The answer was a resounding yes!
In 2023, we partnered with Franklin University to “test” our idea. The response was positive! Students donated everything from mini-fridges and small appliances (i.e., steamers, irons, coffee machines) to clothing and decorations.
“This has been a win-win-win all around,” says Heather Snyder, Volunteer Coordinator. “Students have an easy way to pass along items, we get useful things for our neighbors, and we both feel good about being more environmentally friendly by reusing items versus sending them to a landfill.”
With the success of the first college spring cleaning drive, SVdP Indy reached out to additional schools in 2024. Franklin, Marian University and IUPUI agreed to participate.
For Sarah Balana Molter, Director of Student Activities at Marian, it was a natural extension of the partnership the university already had with SVdP Indy.
“Our students do a lot of volunteering with SVdP Indy through the STARR Initiative, our MLK Day of Service and our First Day of Service,” she shares. “This was another way to support the organization that our students had come to love.”
Balana Molter worked with the Director of Housing to set up various locations around campus for students to bring the items they wanted to donate.
The donations filled one of SVdP’s big trucks—and were put to immediate use. Items are given to those who contact us for assistance or live at the Love Your Neighbor Center, or they are sold in our Mission 27 stores, which help support the 30th Street Food Pantry and our Changing Lives Forever program.
“Our students were excited to give back to the community in this way,” she says. “We look forward to doing it again next spring!”
