As the 2014-15 school year wrapped up, area college students were able to donate items to Goodwill without leaving campus – or even their residence halls.
For the fifth consecutive year, Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina worked with 12 colleges, universities and secondary boarding schools to place donation bins in residence halls while students moved out for the summer. The 2015 “Ditch ‘n Dash” program collected 59,312 pounds of donations. Goodwill estimates that the sale of the donations will fund employment and training services for 2,372 people.
For the second year, the leader in donations was Wake Forest University. Wake Forest students collected just over 10 tons of donations, which will generate more than $200,000 for Goodwill’s workforce development programs. Christ School in Asheville had the highest per-student donation amount, with each student donating 20 pounds of goods on average.
Donated items will be sold in Goodwill’s 43 retail stores and outlets in northwest North Carolina. Proceeds help fund the nonprofit organization’s job training and workforce development programs.
“On behalf of the thousands of people in northwest North Carolina who are going to benefit from these programs, Goodwill would like to thank all of the students who donated items for their generosity,” said Dana Conte, Goodwill’s manager of Donation Services.
The collection totals for each college or school are (donations in pounds):
Wake Forest University: 20,348
Western Carolina University: 8,232
Winston-Salem State University: 7,873
UNC Asheville: 7,056
Catawba College: 2,990
Brevard College; 2,558
Christ School: 3,002
Asheville School: 2,542
Lenoir-Rhyne University: 1,814
Salem Academy & College: 1,418
UNC School of the Arts High School: 1,027
UNC School of the Arts: 452
TOTAL: 59,312