Move Out Drive

Any member of the Georgetown University community may donate gently used furniture, clothing, books, non-perishable food, and other household goods at four collection sites between May 8 through May 22, 2023 noon and 4 pm daily. Additionally, scheduled pick-ups for off-campus community members through the Office of Neighborhood Life will be available.

Donated goods will be provided to a network of non-profit organizations in the Washington, DC metro area such as Bread for the City, the Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, and Central Union Mission (see full list below). In 2022, the Move Out Drive diverted 67,560 pounds of materials valued at $247,000.

When and Where to Donate in 2023

On-Campus Community Members

Four collection sites will be conveniently located available across Main and East Campus May 8 through 22 opened noon to 4 pm daily. Please do not drop off donations outside of these hours as they not able to be donated if wet or dirty.

Acceptable items for donation include:

  • Appliances (small refrigerators, microwaves, etc)
  • Bikes
  • Bedding and linens (not pillow or foam mattress pads)
  • Books
  • Cleaning supplies (unopened)
  • Clothing (clean, dry, no rips or stains)
  • Electronics
  • Furniture and storage containers
  • Food (nonperishable and unopened)
  • Hangers (plastic or wood clothes hangers)
  • Linens (dry, clean towels and sheets)
  • Kitchenware (dishes, utensils, pots and pans, etc.)
  • School and office supplies
  • Shoes
  • Sports equipment
  • Toiletries (unopened)
  • (We cannot accept anything wet, dirty, broken or ripped; decorations and knick-knacks, foam mattress pads and pillows)

Off-Campus Community Members

Off-campus pickups are managed by the Office of Neighborhood Life. Please visit the Off-campus Move Out Drive page for more information on how to donate if you live off-campus.

About the Move Out Drive

The annual Move Out Drive is Georgetown’s end-of-the-school-year contribution to our community and the environment, inviting members of our campus community to “re-purpose their packing” at the end of the semester by donating gently used household items to local charities.

Each May, over 250,000 pounds of unwanted materials are discarded during move out, which can end up in local landfills, harming the local environment and the communities around them. Many students, faculty and staff have realized that there is a better way to re-purpose their packing and help care for our common home.

The Move Out Drive addresses the environmental challenge of the (literally) tons of unwanted clothing, books, school supplies and household goods that Georgetown students discard each year as they move out of their school-year residences. Applying the university’s social justice mission to this challenge, Georgetown partners with local charities to collect and donate these unwanted items, providing every-day basic household goods to meet real life needs of those working to make ends meet in the DC region.

Non-profit partners in 2023 include the Father McKenna Center, Community Forklift, The Family Place, Bread for the City, Turning the Page, Central Union Mission, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, Pathways to Housing, La Cocina, and Martha’s Table.

Charitable partners include Bread for the City, Central Union Mission, the Salvation Army, and Habitat for Humanity

Through the years, the Move Out Drive has grown to involve the entire Georgetown community, on- and off-campus, to become emblematic of the university’s quadruple bottom line approach to sustainability, serving people, the planet, and promoting prosperity for the common good. The annual Move Out Drive is a collaboration of the Office of Sustainability, Office of Neighborhood Life, Office of Residential Living, and Department of Planning & Facilities Management. We would also like to thank our generous corporate sponsors, whose support helps make the Drive possible: Coca Cola and Mobile Mini Solutions.

Our Impact

In addition to serving some of the most vulnerable members of our community, the Move Out Drive helps to conserve natural resources and protect our region’s air, water, and land by repurposing materials that would otherwise end up in local landfills and incinerators. 

Each year, thanks to the work of dozens of university staff, Move Out Drive volunteers, and local charity partners, the Move Out Drive has been able to divert an increasing quantity and quality of goods from the waste stream. In 2022, the Drive diverted 67,560 pounds of materials valued at $247,000, which made it into the hands of local individuals experiencing or transitioning out of homelessness through the help of KEYS for the Homeless.

We are excited to once again work with KEYS for the Homeless Foundation, Inc., a local nonprofit organization that has been working to provide everyday basic household goods to meet the real life needs of those living in poverty for the past two decades. KEYS for the Homeless is a key partner in connecting the Move Out Drive with the dozens of organizations throughout the Greater Washington region who use the goods donated by Georgetown University Community. Your donations will reach those families and individuals served by our community non-profit organization partners.