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PrintCOLUMBIA — A giant Sonic the Hedgehog stuffed animal dressed in a witch costume will be at Memorial Stadium this Saturday.
The stuffed animal is just one of the oddities available at this year’s Tiger Treasures rummage sale, put on by MU and benefiting the United Way.
- By 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, many people had already lined up for the Tiger Treasures rummage sale at Memorial Stadium, and by about 10 a.m., according to coordinator Steve Burdic, 2,500 people had come to the sale, and others were still arriving.
In its second year, the sale features an array of items donated or left behind by students in MU residence halls, as well as Greek houses and MU Residential Life student apartments. Organizers around campus collected 15 tons of stuff, roughly the same amount as last year, said Steve Burdic, MU’s coordinator of solid waste and recycling. Volunteers helped collect, sort and price the items, including clothing and bedding, furniture, electronics, appliances and even a piano. And, of course, one giant Sonic the Hedgehog.
Although the haul was comparable to last year’s, it drew from more places, including fraternities, sororities and apartments.
Burdic said Greeks Going Green, an MU student organization that promotes sustainability in the Greek community, got involved this year after Burdic met with the organization’s president, Sam Urkov. Burdic said expanding to other residences has contributed greatly to the sale.
“We’ve had good response from the Greek community and we hope to build upon that in the future,” Burdic said.
Urkov said it is important to include the Greek community in projects such as Tiger Treasures.
“It left out about 25 percent of Mizzou’s population in the Greek houses,” he said. “That’s a pretty big percent of the population that is now getting the chance to donate their goods.”
Tiger Treasures also picked up items from MU Residential Life’s student apartments, including Tara Apartments, Manor House, Village Heights and The Village.
Cyndy Chapman, development director for Salvation Army, said items are still being collected from student apartments because some residents move out of those areas at later dates.
The sale’s expansion also brought together more volunteers from United Way agencies, including the Salvation Army, Meals on Wheels, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the Voluntary Action Center and Phoenix Programs. In 2007, only Salvation Army had the resources to volunteer on short notice, Chapman said.
Proceeds from the sale will go to all the agencies, which will split up the money according to the amount of volunteer hours credited to each.
“We learned so much last year that we were able to plan a great deal for this year,” Chapman said.
The sale begins at 7 a.m. Saturday, under the east side stands of Memorial Stadium, but “early bird” shoppers can enter at 6 a.m. if they pay a $5 fee. Chapman said about 700 people paid the fee to get in early last year.
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