With each semester, students graduate and leave, and new students come to BYU–Hawaii. The graduates move on to the next chapter of their lives, and the new students are just beginning their journey. Most come with few possessions – the bare essentials – all that would fit in their luggage. For many, a challenge arises: how to find and afford all the things needed to live.
Enter recent graduate Kelly Ingold-Nelson with a great idea. Most of the things that new students need are the same items discarded by the students leaving each semester. With this in mind, Nelson came up with Give and Take, a swap meet of sorts that allows students to share things like kitchen utensils, books, clothes, baby formula, and more with the incoming and existing student body.
The first event took place at the Aloha Center in April 2011. Although she felt it was a success, Nelson knew it could reach and benefit more students. Where it began with a few donation tables around campus and Temple View Apartments (TVA), Give and Take in December 2011 filled 15 full-size, dumpsters that were cleaned and painted to be used for donations.
Nelson took her idea to the university’s annual Great Ideas Exchange and was recognized as a finalist for Give and Take. Support for the event, and for its continuance, comes from many corners of campus, including promotion, identifying space to collect and distribute items, and volunteer coordination. In addition, Sustain BYU–Hawaii, an on-campus organization dedicated to increasing the sustainability of the campus and its activities, is one of the largest supporters of the event.
“Give and Take takes used things to people in need; it blesses lives with things that would otherwise have been in the garbage,” said Nelson. “It teaches sustainability as a cultural acceptance – it’s ok to use used things.”
Photos by Mei Yin.