Sophomores Erin Donovan (left) and Rachel Weinstein fill recycling bins outside of the 90 St. Thomas More Road residence hall on the first day of Cleansweep. The annual program collects unwanted items from departing students and donates them to schools and non-profit agencies.
“We’ve found telephones, refrigerators, microwaves, dust busters, cleaning supplies, lots of unused food, and tons of clothing,” says Dan Ponsetto, director of the Volunteer and Service Learning Center, and one of Cleansweep’s coordinators.
During the two-week drive in May, volunteers go from door to door in undergraduate residence halls to collect unwanted possessions. For the first time this year, students could also bring donations to five Cleansweep tents located around Lower Campus. More than 75 nonprofit agencies along with Allston-Brighton and local Catholic schools will participate in the program this year. Past beneficiaries include the Allston-Brighton Food Pantry, Catholic Charities, Crossroads Family Shelter, and The New England Home for Little Wanderers.
John McLaughlin ’83 founded the initiative after visiting campus in 1991 and seeing overflowing dumpsters filled with items left by students. “I thought that there were people a mile or two down the road that could use this stuff,” says McLaughlin, who now works for Information Technology Services. “We needed to build a bridge between those who didn’t want these things and those who needed them.”
The grassroots effort draws upon the work of more than 130 alumni, students, community volunteers, and staff from the Boston College Alumni Association, facilities management and services, residential life, and governmental and community affairs.