Donations Collected During Move-Out Benefit Local Charities

Each June during student move-out, the Office of Sustainability coordinates the “Take it or Leave it” program, collecting items that students no longer want and donating them to local charitable organizations. During this year’s program more than 400 pounds of food was donated to Campus Kitchens NU (CKNU). In addition to the food, nearly 20,000 pounds of clothing and household goods were collected for donation to Goodwill.

The food donation helps CKNU provide food to thousands of children and teens throughout Evanston and Chicago. CKNU’s nutrition education programs provide snacks and a grocery bag of food for students to take home to make meals with their families. Throughout the school year, CKNU gets donations from Northwestern Dining. The food collected from the move-out program helps to fill grocery bags during a time when many of the dining halls are closed.

Donations to Goodwill support the organization’s mission of providing job training and employment opportunities for youth, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities, criminal backgrounds, or other specialized needs. Resale stores such as those run by Goodwill also provide a valuable service for many in our community, offering access to needed household items at discounted prices.

Thank you to the Northwestern community for supporting this effort to serve our community while reducing the amount of items that get thrown away during move-out.