SLU Community Engagement Inventory

Data based on information submitted by members of the SLU community, summer 2015.

Trash to Treasure

Description: Saint Louis University (SLU) Trash to Treasure, is the University's donation drive that occurs during student moveout week at the end of each semester. As students are moving out of their residence halls, they are encouraged to donate their unwanted used clothing, furniture, electronics, and nonperishable food to the Trash to Treasure collection drive, rather than throwing away these items. The collected goods are then donated to partnering local charities for productive re-use. The drive annually diverts thousands of pounds of goods from the landfill, saving the University in waste disposal costs while benefitting the local community.

Community Partnerships:

MERS/Goodwill
Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center
Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Primary SLU Contact: Brandon Verhoff, bverhoff1@slu.edu

Collaborator(s): Andrew Reeves, Melinda Carlson, Bryan Sokol

Categories: Environment, Other

SLU Community Engagement Locations

About the SLU Community Engagement Inventory

The SLU Community Engagement inventory aims to provide a centralized repository for faculty, staff and student projects in the St. Louis region. This project is a direct response to SLU's 2014-15 Strategic Planning process, which identified a need to develop a clearinghouse for programs and initiatives "to track both opportunities identified by the community and SLU, and joint programmatic activities underway in the community." Accordingly, this inventory aims to provide a comprehensive list of SLU initiatives and their respective community partners active as of August, 2014.

The Carnegie Foundation defines community engagement as "collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity."

Community engagement at SLU, while sharing the Carnegie Foundation definition, has another level of depth, as SLU activities are inspired and guided by the university's mission statement, "the pursuit of truth for the greater glory of God and for the service of humanity." The words of St. Ignatius of Loyola encourage us to "find God in all things," and this is embodied in the wide range of disciplines and practices in which truth is pursued at SLU. As St. Irenaeus famously put it, "the glory of God is the human person fully alive." While always seeking the Magis, this inventory shows the many ways in which Saint Louis University is living out its mission, seeking greater human flourishing in communion with many partners throughout the St. Louis region.

If you have any questions, or would like to submit a project to be included in the database, please send an email to communityengagement@slu.edu.

Acknowledgments - the following people have been essential in the creation of the Community Engagement Inventory: Alexandra Barrett, Nebu Kolenchery, David Hakanson, Mark Rimar, Louis Xu, Bryan Sokol, James Kimmey, Peg Weathers, Steven Sanchez, David Sailer, Nancy Solomon, Keith Hacke, Jae Teuk Chin and Sarah Coffin.