In an effort to reduce waste and give back to students and the local community, the Mississippi State University Student Association and volunteers will be collecting used furniture, clothes and food from around campus for a garage sale on May 8.
Taylor Butler, senior landscape architecture major, said the Dawghouse Deals Program will find new uses for items students on campus no longer need and would throw away. These items will be collected and sold, with proceeds going towards the Harold Hall Fund.
“The Harold Hall Fund helps out students that fall into unforeseen circumstances,” he said. “It tries to help them out as much as it can in their time of need.”
The ultimate goal of the program is to one day completely fund the Harold Hall Fund through a once a year collection and sale event.
“I really think this sale will be a positive thing that’s just going to grow every year,” Butler said. “We’ve been working really hard to lay the groundwork and make sure it has the roots to grow.”
Donation locations for the program will be set up in tents around residence halls on campus this week and will be collecting donations until the end of finals. Students living off campus may make donations at any location on campus.
Halston Hales, junior industrial systems engineering major and former SA attorney general, said items students can donate to the program range from clothes and furniture to electronics, bicycles and non-perishable food items.
“If there’s something someone else can get some use out of, don’t throw it in a dumpster,” he said. “Donate it to us and it will go towards helping another student in need.”
SA President Thomas Sellers said the Dawghouse Deals Program will also be accepting larger items that students might not be able to easily transport home.
“We are interested in anything that students do not wish to take home,” he said. “From futons to cleaning supplies, we want to offer students a way to give back instead of just throwing something away.”
Hales said non-perishable food collected through the program will be donated to the Mississippi Food Network, an association dedicated to helping those suffering from poverty-related hunger. The Mississippi Food Network will then distribute the collected donations to surrounding areas in need of assistance through local organizations like Starkville’s Peter’s Rock Temple.
Butler said the support for the event from university faculty and staff, both in donations and pledged support at the sale, has been a tremendous help, especially considering most students will have left campus for the summer when the sale starts.
“I think it says a lot about our community that the students were able to set this up and now the faculty is stepping in to help,” he said.
Students, faculty or staff wishing to volunteer for either the sale or collection process may contact the SA for more information.
The Dawghouse Deals Sale will be held on May 8 under the west concourse of Davis Wade Stadium near Barnes & Noble and will last from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will be open to the public.
Items at the sale will be arranged by price, and those planning on attending are strongly encouraged to bring exact change. The prices at the sale will be non-negotiable, although there will be a silent auction for high-end items such as electronics and bicycles.