No cash, no credit. No charge. Free, for nothing.
"He couldn't believe that we would just let him come in and shop," said Ragsdale, head of Penn Volunteers for Public Service, now running its third annual "Move-Out Drive" in a warehouse at 41st and Walnut streets.
The drive lets Penn students and faculty shed unwanted worldly goods at the end of the semester and have them reused by people in need.
"We go for everything," said Ragsdale. "Household items, curtains, dishes, forks - things that people could look for when they're just starting out."
Students have brought in microwaves, small refrigerators, washing machines, blankets, shoes, assorted furniture.
"Last week we had a loveseat and a futon and three sets of mattresses and box springs," said Ragsdale.
"It doesn't stay there," she added. "It just disappears."
Most of the stuff comes from students who are leaving campus. But University City real estate offices also help stock the store with leftovers
from their properties.
The shoppers are chosen by Philadelphia social service agencies. Penn Volunteers sends out letters to 50 shelters and other agencies that help people putting their lives back together. The organizations let their clients know where to go for free gear.
"We have people who are just coming out of homeless shelters and drug abuse treatment," Ragsdale said.
"We had one woman who came in with her whole family, with children and all," she said. "They were basically looking for any furniture they could get at all. They basically had none. She took a loveseat, she took a futon."
Agencies also take clothing for people living in shelters.
The Penn folks are now wrapping up this year's drive, which operates for four weeks in May and June, with shopping sessions on Saturdays only.
Temple University doesn't quite match Penn's store-in-a-warehouse, but it does station collection boxes in dorms. Students toss in clothing, furniture and household items that are turned over to service agencies.
The Recycling Bin gives a rousing college cheer to both operations. Generous readers still have a few days to help the drive at Penn.
Goods may be left outside the garage door entrance at 4100 Walnut St. before 9 a.m. daily through Friday, June 10, or on Saturday, June 11, until noon. Real estate companies nearby will take the material indoors.
SCRAPS. Got an extra 86 tons a day of newspapers, cans and bottles? That's the staggering goal Philadelphia has just set to achieve a 40 percent increase in curbside recycling by April, 1995. "We're serious about this. We want to see some real increases," city recycling chief Alfred Dezzi said. Coming soon: new recycling campaigns . . . The Recycling Bin wants to hear your ideas and questions about recycling. Call us at 215-854-5999. Collection complaints are now being handled by a new Clean Air Council hot line at 800-80-RECYCLE.
