Fort Collins business helping to repurpose dorm room items, preventing waste

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Moving out of the dorm room can be chaotic and lead to items ending up in the trash.

However, Chair Table Home is working with Colorado State University to provide a solution to save these dorm room essentials and give them a new home in the community.

This is the seventh year Chair Table Home has been working with the university to help repair and resell items from students’ dorm rooms. Susan Wingate, the business’s owner, explained that over the years, there have been more donations and a great need in the local community for these items.

“We work well with CSU, and it benefits both of us. They get it off the property for them, and it comes back. They really support the parents who are looking for ways to make it a little bit easier, so it makes it really easy for families to cut some of their budget down,” Wingate explained.

Items fill the inside of an old mechanic shop where Wingate will work with volunteers to sort through the products and create a shopping experience for families. Once everything is organized, CSU families can make an appointmentwith Susan to shop for low-cost dorm room items and furniture.

“My kids went to CSU, and so we support, Rams support Rams, and so we want to make sure that what comes out of the dorms, we get back into the dorms,” Wingate said.

Anaya Salcedo

Last year, Stacy Lambright used Chair Table Home to help her daughter get the necessary items for her CSU dorm room. She expressed her appreciation for Wingate’s ability to help save the environment and support fellow Rams.

“When I met Susan, I knew she was special and I knew what she was doing for the CSU and the Ramily community, [as] her passion just shines. She started as a one-person show, diverting all of this material by herself, and she’s grown volunteers just because you want to help,” Lambright said.

For families who do not live in Colorado but are interested in purchasing items, they can call 970-236-6249 to request needed items and obtain purchasing and storage information.

“We take pictures, we do video exchanges, so they can see what it is,” said Wingate. “They pay for it, and then they pay a storage fee, and we store it, and they pick it up in August. Then families who come in for orientation, the word gets spread around about how to come up here, and then they come in.”

Anaya Salcedo

Chair Table Home also works with nonprofits in the area to best support them in providing secondhand household essentials to their clients. While it may seem like there are a lot of items right now, Wingate explained that everything will be gone by August.

“I think what’s changed now is that families are not just donating because they want to not throw it in the trash. They really are understanding that we are part of a community, and Fort Collins is a really special community, so that they are adding to the magic of Fort Collins,” Wingate said.

Making CSU move out more sustainable thanks to a partnership with Chair Table Home