The recycling committee at Iowa State is coordinating the collection of unopened food from students moving out of the residence halls for the summer.

“What we are trying to do in the residence halls is to collect all [unopened] food that students have before they move out,” said Gloria Erickson, program assistant with the Facilities Planning and Management and a staff member of the recycling committee.

She said the Bethesda Lutheran Church in Ames will pick up the food and use it for its food bank.

“This is our first time collecting food,” Erickson said. “The full idea is to make full use of the food so it doesn’t get wasted, and to reduce the amount of trash.”

Erickson said the recycling committee is also collecting lumber for its free wood pile. People can drop off or pick up lumber north of the Molecular Biology building.

Erickson said that in the future, the committee would like to expand its collection services to furniture and clothes.

“All the residence halls will be involved in the effort,” said Karen Kellogg, manager of housing facilities. She added that there will be boxes for food placed in several locations around the dorms.

Kellogg also said students are reminded to recycle their white paper by placing it in the special bins. She also said not to put wood in the dumpster, but next to it, so that it can be picked up and brought to the free wood pile.

“Our hope is that participation is good enough to continue the project into the future,” said Nikki Gierat, a junior in animal ecology. “It’s the first time we have tried this, so we will see what people can do for us and go from there.

“We would like to make this a community event,” she said, adding that there are many people in Ames who are needy and who would benefit from the drive.