No Space for Waste

A Semester Sweep Out collection truck outside of a freshman dorm.

Photo by Lucy Baldino '25

Kaitlyn Wiehe ‘23 is the mastermind behind Semester Sweep Out at Marist College. Semester Sweep Out is a campus wide donation program that takes unwanted items from students at the end of the year and brings them to local organizations in need around the Hudson Valley area.

Wiehe was inspired to found the program after the death of a friend. While dealing with her grief over something that she could not change, she was inspired to make a difference in something that she could control. 

Wiehe emphasized her enjoyment for community based learning, and asked faculty members if they had any connections to local organizations so she could channel her energy into something good. This helped Semester Sweep Out partner with organizations in the Hudson Valley, including Grace Smith House, Hudson River Housing, Needle In the Haystack, Salvation Army, Reach Out and Touch Food Pantry and Dutchess Outreach- The Lunchbox.

There really is a place for everything, and the program encourages all items for donation.  Students last year donated everything from televisions and pots and pans, to makeup and feminine products. 

“I remember when we sorted everything through at Hudson River Housing, I said this is a bag of trash to the staff working,” Wiehe said. “The woman said ‘Oh no that’s not trash, come here give it to me I will use these things’ and it was like paper clips and stuff you wouldn’t think would have a place, but it did.”

Wiehe and one of her team members, Sophia Orr, have been learning the tips and tricks from last year’s donation process of what worked, as well as what did not in hopes to have a more successful sweep out at the end of this school year. 

Last year, Semester Sweep Out placed cardboard boxes in the entryways of dorms for students to place their donations in. Volunteers collected and sorted through each box, which were later separated by item. The boxes were then put into U-haul sized box trucks to make the deliveries to the local organizations. 

Due to last year's lack of volunteer manpower, Wiehe had to come up with a new approach to the collections this year, as it was incredibly tedious for volunteers to go back and forth constantly between residence halls and sort through all hundreds of items.

This upcoming Sweep Out, Wiehe plans to have U-Haul sized box trucks set up at every residence hall dumpster for easy distribution of goods starting on May 1. The trucks will remain outside the residence halls until the last day of the semester, May 15. 

Wiehe is still figuring out logistics, but has hope for the community sort days on May 5-7. She is encouraging campus clubs, organizations and sports teams to sponsor a donation station and help sort through items. All students that attend the community sort days will get a priority point for their attendance and helping hands. 

“We want to address the needs of Marist students as well because freshman going into sophomore dorms are going to need supplies and they don’t even know what they'll need, so this will be a good opportunity for them to drop items off as well as pick stuff out that they will need as well as any other class members,” Wiehe said.

For more information and how to get involved, students can follow @semestersweepout.mccel on instagram, as well as keep an eye out for messages posted around campus such as flyers and posters regarding information.