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Enactus turns trash into treasures

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By Peter Edgar

Enactus, Florida Southern College’s chapter of the global organization of the same name, is holding two major end-of-semester events at the end of April—an upcycle event and a residency resale—as fundraisers and as parts of campus sustainability initiatives.

Florida Southern’s chapter has 35 members and is currently running six projects, and hope to have four at a self-reliant stage within the next year. The Southern spoke with Rachel Ash, a sophomore interpersonal and organizational communication major and FSC Enactus’s Vice President of Marketing, to discuss the programs. Ash is the head of Sustain Lakeland, one of the six programs.

Enactus’s Upcycle event is its second annual, and will be held April 21.  Enactus will be tabling Upcycle at the Buckstop as a fundraising event in which students repurpose discarded materials and sell them at low prices. If students interested in purchasing Enactus merchandise are unable to stop by during the day on Friday, they can attend the Farmers’ Market downtown the following morning in downtown Lakeland.

Ash said that most students should be able to afford the pieces for sale—last year, the most expensive item was a ten-dollar sculpture. At past Upcycle events, students made drinking glasses out of soda cans, a mirror involving bottlecaps and dorm decorations from cardboard and magazines. Ash also mentioned fraternity- and sorority-themed merchandise.

The second event that Enactus will be holding is the semesterly Residency Resale. It will be held at the Bandshell April 28, and students will be able to shop beginning at nine in the morning, though most of the donations should arrive by noon.

“By the end of the school year, students decide that they’re either graduating or leaving FSC,” Ash explained, “and they end up trashing a lot of their stuff.” The purpose of a resale is to provide new owners to items that graduating or transferring students leave behind.

Students who are moving on from Florida Southern College may donate to Enactus beginning April 27 at noon; Enactus has been granted permission to drive to the housing locations of those donating items for recovery “so that students don’t have to haul donations on-campus.”

“Enactus is pushing for a huge event with this resale,” Ash said. Last semester, there were only about 150 students transferring or graduating, but they were still able to save 400 pounds of discarded material and raise hundreds of dollars for the campus organization. This semester, around 400 students are expected to graduate, and Enactus expects to triple involvement and sales.For students who may not be acquainted with the campus organization, Enactus is a global organization and stands for “Entrepreneurial Action for Us.” The organization is dedicated to creating community projects that can involve people and become self-sustaining, and provides internships, grants and scholarships while doing so.

Florida Southern College’s Enactus also presents its programs to the main organization, competing with other chapters for grant money. As of Apr. 3, they have advanced to nationals!

If you’re interested in becoming involved with Enactus or learning more, you can visit enactus.org or fscenactus.com/recruitment.

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