Don't dump it, donate it!
Every year, at the end of the spring semester, thousands of college students in the United States move out of residence halls, apartments, and houses in their college community. Many of these students find that there are items they cannot or do not want to take with them. This can often lead to overflowing dumpsters and sidewalks filled with bags and boxes of usable, but unwanted, items left behind in these communities. Our annual Move-Out Collection Drive and Great South Side Sale seek to combat this issue by providing an avenue for students, faculty, staff, and community members to donate unwanted goods to help them find new homes.
During the Move-Out Collection Drive, collection points are set up at all of Lehigh's on-campus and affiliated residences for students to leave accepted items they do not want to pack for home. Throughout the month of May, volunteers pick up all donations and bring them to our primary location at the Health, Science & Technology (HST) Building where they are sorted into categories, priced, and packed up in preparation for the Great South Side Sale.
Held annually on the first Saturday in June, the Great South Side Sale provides the opportunity for the local community to give a new home to items received during the Move-Out Collection Drive. Everything at the Sale is priced well below thrift store pricing, with $1 being the average price of an item. All proceeds from the Sale go back into the community to benefit children's programming in South Bethlehem coordinated by the Community Service Office. The 2024 Great South Side Sale raised $27,000 for our local community.
How Can I Donate?
Donation collection points can be found in a common area of all of Lehigh's on-campus residence halls, Greek houses, and at South Side Commons. They will have a Move-Out flyer and bags provided for you to place any donated items. Donation collection points will be set up during the week of May 5th and will be available through the end of finals for on-campus locations. South Side's donation collection area will be available through the week of May 26th.
If you are unsure where to find the donation collection point for your residence, you can contact your Gryphon, Community Assistant or the Community Service Office at inmove@lehigh.edu.
Donations should be taken to the Health, Science & Technology (HST) Building at 124 E. Morton Street. Community Service Office staff and volunteers will be on hand to accept donations in Room 050 located on the lowest floor of the building between the hours of 10am - 4pm, Mondays through Fridays beginning on Thursday, May 8th. Items should not be left outside of the building or in other spaces besides Room 050.
The last day for donations to be dropped off is Friday, May 30th.
If you are donating furniture or bulky items that you are not able to transport to HST, we may be able to arrange for donation pick-up. In order to determine if pick-up is an option, this form must be completed in its entirety and reviewed by Move-Out staff. All requests will be evaluated within 1 - 2 business days once the review process begins in May.
What Can I Donate?
- Accessories
- Apparel
- Cleaning supplies
- Electronics
- Household & Kitchen items
- Jewelry
- Linens
- Office/School supplies
- Rugs
- Shoes
- Small appliances
- Small furniture
- Storage items
- Unopened food and beverages
- Mattresses
- Mattress pads
- Non-flat screens
- Upholstered items
This year's Great South Side Sale is scheduled for Saturday, June 7th at 10am on the Broughal Middle School football field.
