Moving out? Wondering what to do with unwanted items?

Moving out? Wondering what to do with unwanted items? Give them to a good cause. This year, the university is working with CARITAS, a collaborative network of people and institutions that help those in need, in an effort to put unwanted student belongings to good use by providing families struggling to overcome homelessness with basic […]

Moving out? Wondering what to do with unwanted items? Give them to a good cause.

This year, the university is working with CARITAS, a collaborative network of people and institutions that help those in need, in an effort to put unwanted student belongings to good use by providing families struggling to overcome homelessness with basic items they need as they move to permanent housing.

“This year, we are really trying to encourage students who are moving out to donate their unwanted items like furniture, mattresses and electronics to CARITAS,” said Beth Ward, volunteer services coordinator in the University Student Commons. “Students can leave items in the alleys behind where they live and call or email CARITAS to arrange for the items to be picked up.”

CARITAS offers Central Virginia’s only furniture bank and has made a significant impact helping the homeless population in the Richmond area, serving about 800 families each year and providing beds to 2,000 children since 2010. VCU students planning to move at the end of this month may contact CARITAS at (804) 343-5008, extension 411, or email bbqueen@caritas.org to make arrangements to have their unwanted items picked up. CARITAS will send volunteers out on June 3, June 5 and June 7 to collect the items.

Other options:

Students can discard unwanted items through the City of Richmond’s “Project Clean Move.” The Department of Public Works placed four large roll-off trash containers across the Fan neighborhood where students can deposit their unwanted furniture and other items. The trash containers were out in late April and will go out again in late July at the northwest corner of the intersection of Grace and Mulberry streets, the southwest corner of Ryland and Grace streets, the northwest corner of Morris Street and Grove Avenue and the northwest corner of Morris and Cary streets. With prior planning, students may also have unwanted items that don’t fit in trash cans removed free of charge. Call 311, select the Department of Public Works and ask for a bulk trash pick-up. The pick-up may take three-to-five days, so it is important to secure the trash as much as possible and leave a large note on it, indicating that 311 has been called for a bulk pick-up. Additional information from the Department of Public Works is available at http://www.richmondgov.com/PublicWorks/ProjectCleanMove.aspx.

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