April 30, 2008

Project Move Out set for this weekend

Previously a campus effort only with focus on residence halls, Project Move Out 2008 will include free curbside pickup  in the New Chauncey Neighborhood in West Lafayette.

The project accepts personal and household items that students don't wish to take with them as they move out in May. Volunteers collect and sort items, which are displayed in the Purdue Armory for community members in need to "shop" at no cost.

Students can donate items such as clothing, shoes, cleaning supplies, electronics, books, furniture, laundry soap, winter coats and luggage, says Harry Brown, assistant dean of students and director of the Boiler Volunteer Network, the project's primary organizer.

In the neighborhood phase of the project, Purdue is donating the use of  four trucks, and student volunteers will gather the items. Purdue is teaming with the City of West Lafayette on coordinating routes.

In general terms, the New Chauncey Neighborhood runs from the Wabash River along Fowler Avenue/Wiggins Street to to Northwestern Avenue, to Meridian Street and along West Lafayette Junior/Senior High School and Happy Hollow Elementary School and back to the river near Mascouten Park, according the neighborhood association's Web site.

"Members of Boilers Living Off Campus are looking forward to helping with this initiative," says the organization's president, Heather Murdoch. "We see it as a way to be positive, contributing members of our neighborhoods."

West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis says, "The city appreciates Purdue's efforts to help reduce the burden on our street department with the large loads we usually experience at the end of the school year, and this is a great way for items to be reused."

Here is the Project Move Out schedule:

* Friday (May 2): Collection and sorting of items at Purdue Armory; 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

* Saturday (May 3): Collection and sorting of items at Purdue Armory; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Free curbside pickup in New Chauncey Neighborhood; 1-4 p.m.

* Sunday (May 4): Qualifying low-income individuals can "shop" at the  Armory at no cost and claim items they can use; 1-4 p.m.

Volunteers are still needed to help with the program's collecting, sorting and shopping aspects, and one-hour shifts are available, Brown says. To make arrangements or for information, contact the Boiler Volunteer Network at 49-62450 or bvn@purdue.edu