Give & Go Donations

Each year, UK Recycling partners with community organizations to make it easy for students living on campus to donate usable items instead of throwing them away. During the final weeks of each semester, Give & Go Donation Stations are placed in the lobby of every residence hall on campus, providing a convenient way for students to give their unwanted items a second life.

Who Can Participate?

Any student living on campus (undergraduate, graduate, fraternity & sorority life) can participate in this program.

Each residence hall receives a large blue bin (pictured below) for the lobby. 

Sorority and Fraternity houses are encouraged to participate at the end of the semester! You can call us at (859)257-6234 to request a container to collect donations.

Note: Donations were low in 2020 due to a stark decline in residents throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

What Happens to Donations?

Household items & non-food items are donated to: 

• Goodwill Industries of Kentucky, a community based non-profit organization that provides employment to Kentuckians who are recovering from addiction, reentering society from incarceration, lacking education or transportation, unhoused or homeless, surviving chronic poverty, or living with an intellectual or physical disability.
• The Thrifty Cat, a campus reuse store that gives students free access to gently used clothing, furniture, and dorm essentials to support students and advance campus sustainability.

Non-perishable food items are donated to:

• Big Blue Pantry, a campus organization that serves University of Kentucky students who are experiencing food insecurity or hunger.

Thanks to our participating partners—Big Blue Pantry, The Thrifty Cat, and Goodwill Industries of Kentucky.