As the academic year draws to a close and students move out of their respective dorms and off-campus residences, they should not worry about the waste of throwing away their gently used belongings, or about to whom they ought to donate.
Starting this weekend, students can make donations to From Old2Gold, a citywide yard sale that will occupy about 70,000 square feet of the stadium concourse on May 24, said Frank Parker, Manager Central Receiving.
All proceeds from the yard sale will benefit South Bend area non-profit agencies.
"Students take anything that they have - personal items that they have - that they either no longer want or just want to donate, to non-profit agencies to help the community, and they put it out for our staffs to pick up and take to the stadium," Parker said.
Students will be able to donate a wide variety of gently used belongings to the sale.
"You name anything that students could have in the residence halls, and I'd venture to say that there's at least one of them at the sale," he said.
Items such as stackable storage containers, clothes, shoes, bikes, computers, printers, toys and sporting goods are typically sold, he said.
Members from the community, Parker said, also come to shop at the From Old2Gold yard sale.
"We had somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,900 to 4,000 shoppers last year," Parker said.
Last year's sale generated over $43,000, Parker said,
All residence halls will have barrels to collect non-perishable food items and cleaning supplies, and twelve trucks will drive to residence halls to pick up other larger items, such as furniture, this weekend and during certain evening hours until May 21, according to Parker.
Trucks will also pick up items from other designated areas in and near residence halls during the day, Parker said, and each residence hall also has a designated area for wood from lofts.
Students are requested to remove nails and screws from wood to ensure staff safety.
Parker said the volunteers from non-profit agencies all over the South Bend area come to the sale to help with its setup.
"Last year we had thirty-nine agencies that were involved, and they come in throughout the month of May to sort all of the items, price them, get them set for display," Parker said. "And all the proceeds that we gain [from the yard sale] are divided up between the agencies that have volunteers working."
From Old2Gold is in its fourth year at Notre Dame, but was modeled on Penn State and the Centre County United Way's Trash to Treasure, a similar project in which students donate items that are sold at a yard sale in Penn State's football stadium, according to Parker.
