Bright and cheery greeting cards stand in colorful rows in front of the television. Cards with sparkling, picturesque winter landscapes litter the bed. Cards from barely known relatives are used as coasters on the coffee table. All of them are eventually doomed for the trashcan after they’ve been displayed for a socially acceptable amount of time. Grandma’s well wishes lie tossed in the bin. Her birthday pep-talks, “To the Best Grandchild” and handwritten smiley faces lie forgotten and useless. But there is a way these sincere feelings of love from friends and family can escape their seemingly predestined fate as coffee-stained shred in the next dump truck. Cards for Kids, hosted by the Recycling and Reuse Technology Transfer Center (RRTTC), is an on-campus movement to recycle and reuse old cards — greeting cards, birthday cards, winter holiday cards — all of them.
These previously used cards are sent to St. Jude’s Children’s Ranch, then given to the children and volunteers at St. Jude’s who cut off the back of the cards and create their own unique card by attaching a new back and giving it new life. St Jude’s then sells them for profit. A pack of ten starts at seventeen dollars, and the proceeds go towards funding the ranch and supporting its programs.
Of the questions students may be asking, Kaitlyn Devine, junior gerontology major, wants to know how much profit is actually gained by St. Jude’s in the end. While the profit varies according to the amount of cards donated each year, project leader Jennifer Bruss said, “On average we get about 2 to 3 thousand cards donated.”
These donations are mostly from faculty and staff. Students too, along with anyone else, can drop off the cards at any of six locations around campus: Maucker Union, the Wellness and Recreation Center, Schindler Lobby, Gilchrist Hall, Rod Library and the Center for Energy and Environmental Education.
According to the St. Jude’s website there are some cards they cannot accept: Hallmark, Disney and American Greeting. However, all other cards are welcome. More information is available from www.stjudesranch.org under their “About Us” tab. They are in need of birthday and thank you card submissions, however, all types of cards such as holiday, graduation, get well and greeting are welcome.
The cards that once collected dust on dressers, or lay hidden under piles of holiday photos, now give joy to a whole new set of people. Cards that once brought happiness into one life can bring happiness into another. Cards for Kids renews the meaning and purpose of sending a card for the holidays.
Catherine Zeman of the RRTTC said, “I think that it’s a great opportunity to use your old cards for something important.”
