Giving Back to the Community

A two-day sale of items donated by UC Santa Barbara students will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, June 20 and 21, in the parking lot of UCSB’s Embarcadero Hall, 935 Embarcadero del Norte in Isla Vista.

The sale is sponsored by GIVE, a campus project developed to encourage students to donate and recycle their unwanted items rather than discard them. Admission is free and the event, which marks its 25^th anniversary this year, is open to the public.

When students move out of the campus residence halls and off-campus housing, GIVE staff members and volunteers take donations of reusable clothing, books, furniture, household goods, electronics, bicycles, canned and packaged food and other miscellaneous items. Through June 19, GIVE staff and volunteers are collecting, sorting and pricing donations for sale, with 100 percent of the proceeds benefitting Isla Vista nonprofit organizations and community projects.

Any items not sold will be donated to Goodwill Industries of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

Last year, GIVE processed nearly 50 tons of goods, recycled more than 300 pounds of electronic waste, and collected over 1,200 pounds of canned and packaged food for UCSB’s Associated Students Food Bank. With more than 200 volunteers working over 1,400 hours, GIVE raised more than $40,000, which was then distributed to 13 nonprofits and community groups in Isla Vista.

Among last year’s beneficiaries were Isla Vista Elementary School’s Science Camp Scholarship Fund; Isla Vista Park and Recreation District’s Adopt-A-Block Program; Isla Vista Teen Center YMCA; Isla Vista Youth Projects; Optimist Club at UCSB; Breakfast Optimist Club of Goleta; ¡Viva el Arte de Santa Bárbara!/Isla Vista;

Isla Vista Children’s Soccer; Santa Barbara Student Housing Co-Op; and the Associated Students Food Bank. Major sponsors of this year’s GIVE project include the Isla Vista Tenants Union; Associated Students Community Affairs Board; Associated Students Finance Board; Isla Vista Community Relations Committee; and UCSB Housing and Residential Services. Additional support is provided by MarBorg Industries, Goodwill Industries of Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, the Santa Barbara Independent, the UCSB Community Housing Office, UCSB Office of Student Life, UCSB Parking Services, UCSB Physical Facilities, and countless community volunteers.

For more information about GIVE, visit https://seal.sa.ucsb.edu/civic-community-engagement/give-benefit-sale or contact program coordinator Susan Hodges at susan.hodges@sa.ucsb.edu.