作者:Jonah Grinkewitz
When students move out from their dorms, they inevitably leave behind unwanted or unused items. At the end of this past spring semester, a group of nearly 50 bet8体育娱乐入口 students helped make sure these items went back to students in need as well as to members of the local community.
与ODU一起工作 住房 & 居住生活, students sorted more than 800 pounds of clothing, shoes and other household items to donate to local CHKD Thrift Stores, completely filled the Monarch Clothing 关闭t and Monarch Thrift programs and stocked the 君主储藏室 with about $3,000 worth of groceries.
君主衣橱, Monarch Thrift and 君主储藏室 programs provide free clothes and food to currently enrolled ODU students.
The students also partnered with 联盟宣教部 to recycle clothing or bedding that would have otherwise been thrown away.
"Knowing that ODU students care for each other, either through donating items or volunteering their time, really makes me proud to say I go to ODU,Koral Mack-Plaza说, a May 2024 graduate who helped with the effort.
Kara Boone used to work as a hall director at Whitehurst Hall and said that 住房 and 居住生活 has been collecting items during student move-out for years. When she moved into her position as assistant director for 的服务培训 在ODU的职业中心 & 领导力发展 in 2022, she reached out to them to partner on improving the process.
“I worked to not only expand the number of organizations and nonprofits who would benefit from the donations, but also to expand the volunteer base and create a campus-wide opportunity for students,布恩说. “I think it is often underestimated how generous and caring our students are.”
Leading up to spring move-out, students were notified via email and through signage on campus that they could donate items to fellow students and community members in bins placed in residence hall lobbies.
工作人员 and student workers from 住房 & 居住生活 transported the items to a donation sorting center where students from across campus came together to help, 包括来自 全球学生友谊, who routed furniture and household items to benefit international students.
Boone helped implement another change to the move-out process this year, advertising to students that any unwanted items would be going back to students and the community. Every on-campus residence hall had donation bins and signage in the lobby for students to drop their items and emails were sent to students about the opportunity.
“Knowing that ODU students care for each other, either through donating items or volunteering their time, really makes me proud to say I go to ODU,Koral Mack-Plaza说, a May 2024 graduate who helped with the effort.
Boone said that many students acquire additional items throughout the year, and when it comes time to move out, they’re limited on how much they can transport.
“Donating, not dumping,” she said. 我的目标是, 除此之外, is to get as many items as possible from these donations BACK to our students first, and then to local nonprofits and organizations.”
学生志愿者, Boone said the experience taught them soft skills like communication, teamwork and problem solving and it was a way for them to make new friends.
“通过这次经历, I got to meet so many students that wanted to get involved in volunteering on campus,Britney Kouassi说, a senior biology major at ODU who is a student worker in the Center for Career & 领导力发展. “It was amazing to be able to put an actual face to the people these donations were benefiting.”
“寻找社区, 在生命的任何阶段, 很重要吗?, and volunteering alongside a stranger is an amazing way to turn that stranger into a friend,布恩补充道. “I’m a big believer that all of these volunteer efforts also help our community and our world by teaching empathy and actively showing compassion.”