An initiative to divert unwanted items left behind by students moving out of Chancellor's Way was a roaring success, organizer's say.
Kalev Jaason said the event, which involved collecting unwanted furniture, household items, food and clothing then distributing it to 25 local charities and organizations, went "incredibly well."
"I think it exceeded everyone's expectations," Jaason said in an email.
"For the first year of a pilot project I would say it was a big success. I wish the students got a chance to see the difference their items made to a lot of people and how happy the people were who got these things," Jaason said.
"In the end with the help of the students who donated items and the amazing volunteers who pulled out everything else they could from the bins, i think we diverted around 95 percent of the usable items from the students and put them back into the community and to the people who need them the most instead of ending up in the landfill.
Most of what ended up being sent to landfill was basically garbage or not in usable condition.
Operation Separation saw 350 to 400 pieces of furniture: chairs, tables, desks, beds, mattresses, sofas, coffee tables, dressers, shelving units and even a small pool table and keg fridge.
They posted items on Kijijii, offering the furniture for free, "and it ended up being one of the best decisions and helped to find new homes for the furniture," he said.
Some of the items went to Habitat For Humanity, Bibles For Missions thrift store, St. Vincent de Paul, Hope House, the Drop In Center Salvation Army, Goodwill and Move Out Madness, an on-campus program that stores unwanted items for use by others the next year.
It wasn't just furniture being left behind that went to a good cause. Jaason said just over 1,000 pounds of food was distributed to nine different food banks in the city and roughly 150 garbage bags full of clothing, bedding and towels.
"Even the Humane Society ... which ended up getting the partially used laundry detergents, blankets, towels, mats, (for cleaning/bedding), empty bottles for their bottle drive, two cat scratching posts, some dog/cat toys/treats/food and three garbage bags full of half eaten peanut butter jars."
Operation Separation was made possible through 31 volunteers over a two-week span at the end of April.
Jaason said the business community was also very supportive, offering cardboard boxes, shipping crates and moving dollies to help get the job done.
"We set aside enough pots/pans/dishes and other kitchen items for 10 international students in the fall," he said.
Jaason estimated that 60 per cent of the students moving out donated something.
He said the plan for next year is to do it again with more volunteers and hopefully more student involvement.
"I think it's safe to say that the Chancellor's Way move-out will never be quite the same again."
