Ten Tons of Love returns to SU campus April 29; organizers expect to exceed last year’s 20-ton collection

Ten Tons of Love returns to SU campus April 29; organizers expect to exceed last year’s 20-ton collectionApril 11, 2008Carol K. Masiclatclkim@syr.edu

This month, members of the Syracuse University community will donate record-breaking amounts of clothing, non-perishable food, books, school supplies and other gently used items as part of the fifth annual Ten Tons of Love donation drive. The drive, which benefits the needy of Central New York, begins April 29 and runs through May 16.

The 2007 effort collected nearly 20 tons of food, clothing, house wares and books. In addition, 300 pairs of shoes and four truckloads of furniture were collected. Instead of discarding these items as they moved out for the summer, students donated them for distribution to local charities.

Charities benefiting from this year’s event include Bethesda Temple Pentecostal Church, First English Food Pantry, Interfaith Works of CNY Center for New Americans, Mary Nelson’s Backpack Program, Northside Clothes Closet, the Practical Assistance Program, the Refugee Resettlement Program and Transitional Living Services. The items will be sorted at First English Lutheran Church before delivery to these charities, which will then share the donations with members of the Central New York community.

Items sought for the drive include clothing, bedding, shoes, towels, kitchen supplies, backpacks, cell phones, furniture and non-perishable food items.

Off-campus pick-up of large items can be arranged by calling (315) 443-1012.

On campus, drop-off bins are located at all residence halls, the Alibrandi Catholic Center, Archbold Gym, the Goldstein Student Center on South Campus, Hendricks Chapel, Slocum Heights apartments, Moon Library on the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry campus, the Office of Orientation and Off-Campus Programs, the Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center, Syracuse Stage and University College.

P&C Foods on Nottingham Road is accepting food donations. Sneakers are also being collected as part of If the Shoe Fits, a companion program of Ten Tons of Love. Gently used athletic shoes are needed and welcome; a drop-off site is located at Archbold Gym.

Ten Tons of Love depends on the work of volunteers to gather, transport and sort donated goods. Those who wish to volunteer can do so by registering at http://tentons.syr.edu.

Ten Tons of Love is made possible by the cooperation and support of many volunteers and community businesses, including A La Mode, Brown’s Storage, Campus Hill Apartments, Charette Brothers, Dunk and Bright, Eastwood Litho, Holy Shirt, Johnny’s Pizza, Nextel, OCRRA, P&C, Quartier Printing, Raymour and Flannigan, Reasonable Party and Tent Rental, Sedgwick Business Interiors, Subway, SU Commissary, SU Food Services, SU Housing Zone, SU Materials Distribution, SU Student Centers and Programming Services, Syracuse Banana, the Syracuse Department of Public Works, Syracuse Teen Challenge, Syracuse Office Environments, Sysco, ZJ’s Pizza and1-800-Got-Junk.

For more information on Ten Tons of Love, contact Darya Rotblat, assistant director of the Office of Orientation and Off-Campus Programs and Ten Tons of Love chair. The drive is one of three major year-end engagement opportunities supported by the Division of Student Affairs’ Civic Engagement Council. The others include The Big Event, April 12, and the neighborhood Earth Day Cleanup, April 28. For more information, visit http://students.syr.edu.