Dump & Run

Dump & Run grew out of the University YMCA's annual sale. In 2002 the Y joined a national "Dump and Run" program for college move-outs, and on Sept. 5–7 it held its first Dump & Run in its own building, selling donated furniture, housewares and clothing. From 2003 the Y collected donations each May as students moved out and stored them over the summer in semi-trailers. In 2004 the sale moved to the U of I Stock Pavilion, where nearly 2,300 people came through in the first four hours. Proceeds paid for the Y's student programs, and new international students were let in free.

From 2012 to 2019 the Y also collected from the residence halls for University Housing, a load that grew past 30,000 pounds a year. The pandemic cancelled the 2020 sale, the only year without one. Since 2022 the Y has run Dump & Run as an August program, with two weeks of community drop-offs and the Big Sale on move-in weekend at the Stock Pavilion, while the University runs its own spring collection under the Y's registered name. The 24th sale, in August 2026, drew 4,163 shoppers. The Y estimates that Dump & Run keeps about 30 tons of goods out of the landfill each year.