Finding a Voice
Saturday, August 06, 2005
clean sweep week!
Student Families has a furniture shed. (This is the group of students I am now responsible for, under the heading "Student Households" because it includes singles, too.) The shed was so packed one could hardly move in it. Couches and hide-a-beds were stood on end just to fit them in. There was garbage mingled with the usable things, but nobody could get in to sort through it.
Recently our facilities manager, Doug, informed me that he's going to clean out all of the furniture in his rental units and put it in the mini-rink. He invited me to do the same with the furniture shed. Students can come to the mini-rink at the beginning of the school year and take away whatever they need. At the end of the first week of school, we will salvage whatever is worth keeping for the furniture shed and the rest will go to a dump. The idea is such a relief to me!
So I organized a crew to clean the furniture shed this morning: 6 women and 4 men. It was hot this morning and the men hauled away at least 5 truckloads of furniture (I didn't count). The women stayed in the shed--which was cool to start and stayed shady at least--where we sorted dishes and linens and other household items. There were some pretty disgusting things there, but fortunately no dead animals or moldy food! We packed 4 "starter kits" for new families, especially internationals, so that they'll have something when they first arrive. A starter kit includes dishes and other useful kitchen and household items packed in a 21 litre clear Rubbermaid container. We'll get the starter kits back, of course, when the family leaves or gets their own household goods. I'm excited about being more organized for serving our new families in this way.
Recently our facilities manager, Doug, informed me that he's going to clean out all of the furniture in his rental units and put it in the mini-rink. He invited me to do the same with the furniture shed. Students can come to the mini-rink at the beginning of the school year and take away whatever they need. At the end of the first week of school, we will salvage whatever is worth keeping for the furniture shed and the rest will go to a dump. The idea is such a relief to me!
So I organized a crew to clean the furniture shed this morning: 6 women and 4 men. It was hot this morning and the men hauled away at least 5 truckloads of furniture (I didn't count). The women stayed in the shed--which was cool to start and stayed shady at least--where we sorted dishes and linens and other household items. There were some pretty disgusting things there, but fortunately no dead animals or moldy food! We packed 4 "starter kits" for new families, especially internationals, so that they'll have something when they first arrive. A starter kit includes dishes and other useful kitchen and household items packed in a 21 litre clear Rubbermaid container. We'll get the starter kits back, of course, when the family leaves or gets their own household goods. I'm excited about being more organized for serving our new families in this way.
posted by Colleen McCubbin at 2:27 PM
1 Comments:
When I moved in to alternate housing, I was very thankful for the free use of student families furniture for the year. And sometimes I wonder if the desk I decopaged is still around. :)
A lot of alternate housing students (singles) were not aware of the furniture availability at the beginning of the school year (or end of the previous one for new students moving out of dorm). I'm glad to see alternate housing/student families/student households changing for the better.
:)
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