Bowdoin is currently negotiating a contract with Goodwill Industries of New England (Goodwill) to give the company control of the annual Give and Go Sale.
The sale takes place at the end of the spring semester and is comprised of items students would have otherwise thrown away. Until this year, the sale was open to the Brunswick community.
The 2013 Give and Go Sale raised $41,282.
Sustainability Coordinator Keisha Payson said that before the sale started back in 2002, much of what students did not want at the end of the year was ending up in landfills, even if it was still usable.
In previous years multiple non-profit organizations sent volunteers to work at the sale. The proceeds were divided up amongst the organizations based on the number of hours their volunteers had contributed.
With this new contract, the College will no longer organize and oversee the sale.
Under the terms of the proposed contract, Goodwill will plan and administer the event, and all proceeds will go to Goodwill.
“It takes a lot of the logistical work away from the College,” said Payson.
Payson said that not much will change for students.
“There will be a central collection area,” she said. “It’s usually in the lobby right on the first floor [of dorms], so students just need to bring their items down there, put them in the container, and then the staff from Goodwill will come daily and take things back to their warehouse.”