Hoosier to Hoosier initiative finds new homes for cast-off student belongings

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 2, 2011

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University's Hoosier to Hoosier program begins its second year this spring. The volunteer-driven initiative intercepts and finds new homes for reusable items that might otherwise be tossed out by IU Bloomington students at the end of the school year.

Students can leave used items in collection areas of their residence halls and Greek houses or drop them off at IU's Gladstein Fieldhouse, located on the east side of Assembly Hall, on Thursday (May 5) from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. They can also email h2h@indiana.edu to arrange for items to be picked up.

Collected items will be sorted and priced over the summer in preparation for a community sale in August, with proceeds going to benefit nonprofit organizations.

Volunteers are needed to help with collecting, picking up and transporting items, especially Wednesday and Thursday and May 9-10 from 9 a.m.-noon and from 1 p.m.-4 p.m. There will also be numerous volunteer opportunities in the summer. Email h2h@indiana.edu to volunteer or for more information.

Items acceptable for donation include clothing, kitchen items, unopened food, electronics, games, entertainment and sports supplies, furniture, housewares and small appliances.

Hoosier to Hoosier (H2H) is a reuse program that aims to 1) divert reusable items from the landfill during student move-out, 2) prevent additional resource consumption by selling collected items to students and community members, and 3) raise funds for local charities and other organizations.

The program allows students to donate reusable items, and also gives students a chance to help out their neighbors in need at the same time. Aside from a small percentage that will be set aside for administrative costs associated with the sale next year, all proceeds from the sale will benefit United Way and Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County.

Last year, the drive collected five semi-trailers full of items, and the sale raised $10,000 for United Way and Habitat for Humanity.

Partners in Hoosier to Hoosier include the IU Athletics Department, the IU Office of Sustainability, IU Residential Programs and Services, City of Bloomington departments of Community and Family Resources and Economic and Sustainable Development, United Way of Monroe County and Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County.

Starting this year, H2H will be part of the Bloomington Resale Trail, which combines several reuse-centered events into one big community garage sale. The H2H Community Sale and Bloomington Resale Trail sale will take place Aug. 20 from 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. at Gladstein Fieldhouse.

For more information, see the H2H website at https://www.indiana.edu/~h2h or its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Indiana-University-Hoosier-to-Hoosier/318795747483.