Ohio University
IN-27: Innovation D

Ohio University is in the middle of the most impoverished region of Ohio. Annually the University, Athens City, area landlords and local non-profits collaborate to make it very easy to help families in need through coordinated Move OUt collection systems and free give away events that go far beyond the boundaries of campus. Over 100 volunteers, 45 employees, multiple property owners and 21 local organizations begin work as early as December for the annual Move OUt weeks that take place the following April and May. Sixty plus donation sites, managed by local non-profits and university staff, are located at strategic apartment complexes and high student density neighborhoods throughout the city of Athens as well as across the Ohio University campus. In 2016 alone, the collaborative efforts collected and redistributed 2,400 pieces of clothing, 4 tons of non-perishable foods, 20 tons of furniture and household goods, as well as diverted 62.4 tons of recycling from the landfill. This massive collaboration included gathering of over 60 box trucks full of furniture, carpet, and household goods, 300 off-campus mattresses collected for recycling and 2,386 hours of volunteer and employee time. Without this essential work, these items would cost the university and the city more money in landfill related cost, but instead they find their way to the region's largest donation event. An event that has grown to assist over 800 otherwise low-income families a year.

Submitted 2/12/18 by Andrew Ladd