A two-day sale of items donated by UC Santa Barbara students will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday in the parking lot of UCSB’s Embarcadero Hall, 935 Embarcadero del Norte in Isla Vista. Admission is free and open to the public.
The sale is sponsored by GIVE, a campus project developed to encourage students to donate their unwanted items rather than discard them, according to Catherine Boyer, acting director of student affairs grants and development.
“UCSB students are aware of the social and environmental implications of just throwing away their stuff when they move out of their Isla Vista apartments and campus residence halls,” Boyer said. “Students want to be ‘green’ and make it a zero waste move-out, and they want to give back to their local community. Even in the haste of cleaning and moving out as soon as final exams are over, students recognize that what they no longer need or want can be used by someone else.”
When students move out of apartments and homes in Isla Vista and from residence halls on campus, the GIVE staff and volunteers receive a variety of donations, including clothing, books, furniture, household goods, electronics, bicycles and other miscellaneous items. Those items are then sold by GIVE to benefit Isla Vista nonprofit organizations and community projects.
Marking its 22nd year of accepting donations during student move-out in June, GIVE is one of the first community projects of its kind in the country. In 2011, more than $25,000 was collected from its sales and distributed locally.
“I donated my mini-fridge, desk lamp and even some new clothes that didn’t fit,” said Monet Elrod, GIVE’s volunteer coordinator and a UCSB undergraduate. “I’m so happy to work on a project for the second year in a row, one that improves the community in so many ways.”
This year, beneficiaries include Isla Vista Elementary School’s Science Camp Scholarship Fund and Latino Parent Night; Isla Vista Recreation and Park District’s Adopt-a-Block and children’s recreation programs; Isla Vista Teen Center; Isla Vista Youth Projects; the Optimist Club of UCSB and the Breakfast Optimist Club of Goleta; and Viva el Arte de Santa Barbara/Isla Vista.
Among other beneficiaries are St. Brigid Fellowship, St. Mark’s University Church, the Santa Barbara Student Housing Cooperative and the Associated Students Food Bank.
Items not sold will be donated to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a charity that serves people in Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties.
Major sponsors of GIVE include the Isla Vista/UCSB Liaison Office, the Isla Vista Tenants Union, Associated Students Community Affairs Board, Associated Students Isla Vista Community Relations Committee, UCSB Housing and Residential Services, the Green Initiative Fund and the Energy and Environmental Office.
Additional support is provided by Associated Students Recycling, MarBorg Industries, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the UCSB Community Housing Office, the UCSB Office of Student Life, UCSB Parking Services, UCSB Physical Facilities, and UCSB and community volunteers.
— Andrea Estrada is the deputy news director for the Office of Public Affairs, UC Santa Barbara.
