Last day of work cleaning out the Alumni FreeNew shed shenanigans
Maura Vander Putten
Major: Environmental Studies
Graduation Date: 2025
When I found the FreeStore in 2021, it was a total mess with no one supervising it whatsoever; just a room of empty potential. The FreeNew sheds sat, untouched for years, since before COVID. I feel so lucky and grateful to have had the experience this year of breathing life into these resources and actively making a real change in my own community. Every second of this internship has been so rewarding, from the meetings, to the strenuous physical labor of lugging things to and from the sheds, to hours spent hanging clothes at the FreeStore. I genuinely developed so much of my professional skills and connected with the campus’ community on such a deep level. I’m so excited to spend another year contributing to cutting down on campus waste and providing people’s basic needs for free through these powerful resources.
