Several MSU fraternities and sororities will soon have some charitable landscaping done to their front yards.
Within the next several weeks, at least 17 greek houses will have drop boxes for Volunteers of America, a Christian nonprofit community-service organization, installed on their properties. The boxes are 6 feet tall, 4 feet wide and painted white with the Volunteers of America logo on the side.
Two fraternities, Delta Sigma Phi, 1210 E. Grand River Ave., and Sigma Alpha Epsilon, 342 N. Harrison Ave., already had the boxes installed, and the other fraternities and sororities are scheduled to have them installed in the coming weeks.
People can leave furniture, clothing, children's toys and other household items in the boxes to be sold at the Volunteers of America Bargainway Centers, 5411 S. Cedar St. in Lansing.
"Basically anything you find in any department store, we will take," said Clay Carstensen, assistant manager of the thrift system for Volunteers of America Michigan.
Profits from the items go toward a Lansing homeless shelter and soup kitchen run by Volunteers of America Michigan.
Matt Mayer, president of Delta Sigma Phi, said the box jumps out visually from his house's front lawn, but that was every reason to have the box placed out front.
"It doesn't blend in at all, but that's kind of the point of it - to get people's attention and to make them aware of what it is and what it's there for," he said. "I saw it as being pretty much a no-brainer."
Mayer said members of his fraternity already have responded with garbage bags full of items, and an e-mail was sent out before spring break encouraging members to look for more items if they went home.
Cody Dawson, vice president of external relations for Interfraternity Council, said the boxes are part of a larger effort by the MSU greek community to focus philanthropy efforts on the East Lansing area.
"We want to create more of a neighborhood atmosphere - take ownership in where we live," Dawson said.
Only one other drop box is located in the Lansing area and Columbus, Ohio, is another city using similar boxes for collection, Volunteers of America Michigan officials said.
After struggling for funding for years, the Lansing shelters were in danger of shutting down in January before an anonymous donation of $100,000 enabled them to keep their doors open.
"That was an answered prayer there," Carstensen said.
That gift is keeping the shelters afloat, but he said donations are needed to ensure the shelters can continue providing thousands of people with meals, employment assistance, health services and other forms of aid.
"They provide a safe haven, a warm place to sleep, and they provide hope for people that don't have hope," Carstensen said. "Not only does it meet the physical needs of people, but spiritual and emotional needs as well."
