KU collects food, surplus items for donation following student moveout rush

LAWRENCE — KU Surplus, along with Student Housing at the University of Kansas and a number of community partners, collected leftover food and hundreds of unwanted items, from futons to fish tanks, during the student move out rush last month.

Facilities Services staff moved more than 600 pieces of furniture out of Jayhawk Towers. Those items were donated to Sterling College, Sterling; the Habitat ReStores in Lawrence and Topeka, and Kids International in Ellisville, Missouri.

Additionally, students deposited 1,534 pounds of nonperishable food at the designated pickup locations in their residence halls. The food items were collected by KU Surplus for Just Food, the food bank supplying more than 40 agencies in Douglas County with donations, including KU’s own Campus Food Pantry at Ecumenical Campus Ministries. 

Just Food Chief Resource Officer Elizabeth Keever expressed appreciation for the donations, noting that items that are popular with college students make “quick and easy meals that kids can eat when they are home from school which is highly sought after in the summer.”

More than 500 items were donated to to fund student scholarships for Lawrence Creates Makerspace workshops, which provide training and service to local artists and entrepreneurs.

Additionally, Planet Aid-Kansas City estimated that they retrieved 5,000 pounds of clothing from the collection bins set out by KU Surplus.

For more information about responsibly disposing of items on the Lawrence Campus visitwww.surplus.ku.edu.