Tuesday | February 07, 2012
Dorm Castoffs Become Bounty for Locals
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By
Erin Ailworth
7 June 2007
ORLANDO, Fla. – The futon was the first to go, carried away by two boys.
Behind them, more than 100 people sorted through the clothes and sundries beneath a pavilion at the Bithlo Community Center last week.
High-top Converse sneakers. A plaid, button-down Burberry shirt. Several TVs and computer monitors. A 12-cup Mr. Coffee. A small refrigerator. Assorted toasters, toaster ovens and microwaves. A toddler-sized green dragon costume.
The stuff – more than 1,700 pounds of clothing and bedding and 429 pairs of shoes – all came from one place: University of Central Florida dormitories.
For the past five years, departing UCF coeds have dropped whatever they can’t take with them into boxes placed in residence halls by Brian Wormwood and his staff at the university’s recycling center.
Wormwood said he tells students: "If you don’t want it, don’t need it, your parents don’t know you have it and you can’t take it home, (or) it doesn’t belong to you and you don’t want to give it back, put it here."
Whatever is left behind gets put in trash bags and hauled to the community center, where volunteers with the Bithlo/Christmas Neighborhood Center for Families distribute the bounty.
Schools across the nation have similar programs, said Norbert Dunkel, vice president of the Association of College and University Housing Officers-International. That includes the University of Florida, where Dunkel is the director of housing and residence education.
"Students, in general, are a bit more prone now … to throwing away items, disposing of them rather than keeping them year-to-year," Dunkel said. Not only are students leaving more behind, he said, but they are also chucking expensive possessions such as bikes and computers. Some students live too far away to move the items, have no room to store or transport them, or simply have plenty of money to replace them.
Wormwood and his workers helped volunteers arrange items on picnic tables and pavement. Lorraine Howard and Sarah Meisenheimer sorted small sizes from large, and everyday wear from special-occasion items. Each volunteer kept an eye out for stuff they might later take home.
"My kids – it’s the end of the year. All their clothes are kind of grubby, but you don’t really want to go out and spend, so this will help me get through the summer," said Meisenheimer, 32.
Howard, said she sympathized with parents who spent so much to provide for their kids.
"The parents bought this stuff, and the kids leave it. … They don’t realize how much mommy and daddy spent. But I’m glad they did."
About 10 a.m., locals were waiting for the green light.
Tamara Roesly, 58, had her eye on a printer. Lois Hampshire, 43, wanted to nab a pair of jeans for her 10-year-old son.
"You can take as much as you like," coordinator Roxie Webster told the crowd just before letting people into the pavilion. "Be courteous, please."
Some made a beeline for the clothes. Others went for the furniture, kitchen wares and electronics.
The largest item – a wood entertainment center – was one of the last pieces of furniture to find a home. Carolyn and Donald Lonergan lugged it to their car and hoisted it onto the roof before realizing they had no rope with which to tie it down.
They drove away with their find, with Donald sitting in the large wooden box like ballast in a boat.
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© 2007, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).
Visit the Sentinel on the World Wide Web at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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