Campus community invited to adopt used dorm furniture

With four student residence halls at UW-Green Bay soon to get new desks, dressers and bed frames, members of the campus community are getting a special invitation to help clear space for those deliveries.

UW-Green Bay faculty, staff and students will be able to claim the used furniture being replaced on a first-come, first-served basis between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, July 30 and 31. All items are free.

The four buildings are Josephine Lenfestey Hall, Ted Lenfestey Hall, Arlene Walter Hall and Byron Walter Hall.

The 25-year-old furniture up for adoption is not University property, but belongs instead to University Village Housing, Inc., the local non-profit corporation that has built and furnished new residence halls at UW-Green Bay since the mid-1980s.

Officers of the UVHI board endorsed the free “clearance event” for members of the campus community after first posting the surplus furniture for re-sale and finding no market.

A few pieces found homes when offered as donations to local nonprofits, including a youth camp.

Glenn Gray, director of UW-Green Bay’s Office of Residence Life, describes what remains as being in “fair” shape.

“It’s oak furniture… bedframes which can be bunked, desks with lighted hutches, and dressers… not new, by any means, but certainly in working condition,” Gray says.

Gray and others describe the July 30 and 31 weekend as a recycling project in line with the University’s “green” mission. Keeping as much furniture as possible out of landfills will also reduce possible disposal costs.

The Lenfestey and Walter halls are three-story buildings housing 60 students each. Those claiming pieces on July 30 and 31 will choose from among nearly 240 desks, 240 dressers and 240 bed frames.

To keep the distribution (relatively) manageable, organizers note the following details:

•  July 30 and 31 are the only days for pickup, and there is no pre-ordering or “pre-shopping.” Rooms will be in steady use by UW-Green Bay’s summer youth camps until that weekend, and delivery of replacement furniture begins the next day.

•  A “Hold Harmless Agreement” will be distributed soon via email to all faculty, staff and students. Residence Life, on behalf of UVHI, will ask those who participate to print and complete the PDF and bring it along on moving day. There will be a table staffed in front of Lenfestey and Walter halls where the forms must be presented for permission to enter the halls, select furniture and move it outside for transport.

• Some of the furniture will be already disassembled for adoption, but participants are advised to bring their own tools. A Phillips screwdriver is required to remove the lighted hutches from the desks; and a combination open-end/closed-end wrench is required to disassemble the bed frames. The frames hold single long mattresses.

•  Those who adopt furniture are responsible for all equipment and help required to carry out the items in a safe manner, in a fashion that does not damage the carpeting, stair treads, hallway/stairway walls, doorframes, and the like. The halls do not have elevators.

•  Participants will be allowed to claim multiple desks, multiple dressers and multiple bed frames, should they desire. (They will also be reminded that other items — bed mattresses and chairs, for example — are not part of the offer and may not be removed.)

The location of the four halls, on Lenfestey Court, may be found on the UW Green Bay Housing map linked to the UW Green Bay homepage at http://www.uwgb.edu/maps/files/pdfs/housing10.pdf.

Faculty, staff and students with questions about the furniture reuse and adoption program are asked to call or email the Office of Residence Life at 465-2040 or orl@uwgb.edu.