Annual Isla Vista Sale Gives Back to Community

UC Santa Barbara students and Isla Vista residents give back to the community with the annual Isla Vista GIVE sale scheduled for this weekend.

The two-day sale consists of donated items from residents that range from furniture to electronics with 100% of the proceeds going to local non-profits. The event takes place from 8 am to 4 pm on Saturday and Sunday, June 24 and 25, in the parking lot of UCSB’s Embarcadero Hall at 935 Embarcadero del Norte.

Since 1990, GIVE has accepted donations of unwanted and reusable clothing, books, furniture, household furnishings, kitchenware, electronics, bicycles, canned and packaged foods, and miscellaneous items during Isla Vista and UCSB’s annual move-out time in June. Each year, over 180 volunteers of students and community members help receive, organize, and sort all donations in preparation for the GIVE sale.

Marking its 27th year, GIVE is one of the first community projects of its kind in the country.

“UCSB students are aware of the environmental implications of just throwing away their stuff when they move out of their apartments and campus residence halls,” says Catherine Boyer, Executive Director of Student Affairs Grants and Development and founder of the project. “Students want to be ‘green’ at zero waste move-out and want to give back to their local community. Even in the cleaning and moving out as soon as final exams are over, students realize that what they no longer need or want can be used by someone else.”

Items not sold are donated to Goodwill Industries of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Last year over 165 volunteers donated 1,500 hours to receive and process 25 tons of donated goods that were saved from the landfill.

GIVE donated 2,373 items of packaged food to the Associated Students Food Bank, sold or recycled 3,974 pounds of electronics, and distributed over $27,000 to 14 local programs. Beneficiaries included the Associated Students Food Bank, the Isla Vista Community Network, the Isla Vista Elementary School Science Camp Scholarship Fund, the Isla Vista Free Box, the Isla Vista Initiatives Fund, the Isla Vista Recreation and Park District’s Adopt-a-Block and the Children’s Camping Trip, the Isla Vista Youth Projects, the Optimist Club @ UCSB and Goleta, the Santa Barbara Housing Coop, Santa Barbara Soccer, the Saint George Family Youth Center in Isla Vista, St. Michael’s and All Angels Church, and Viva el Arte Santa Barbara/Isla Vista.

For more information visit www.sa.ucsb.edu/give-iv.