Free Store
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The Free Store is a space for the on-going free exchange of clean, functional, durable items like clothing, shoes, accessories, housewares & kitchen items, linens, bath/beauty/cleaning supplies, electronics, small appliances, books, school & art supplies, and more. Sign-up to volunteer with this online form.
In Fall 2025, the Free Store had a Grand Opening in its new, larger (272 square feet), more accessible space at the rear of the Honors House room 108 (just steps away from Belknap Village South and the base of the SAC Ramp).
The UofL Free Store is open throughout the Fall 2025 semester with the following hours:
Mondays 10am-6pm
Tuesdays 10am-6pm
Wednesdays 9am-6pm
Thursdays 9am-6pm
Fridays 10am-2pm
Saturdays 1-3pm
The Free Store is closed whenever there are no classes, including University Holidays, Breaks, and Emergency Closures.
Located in Honors House room 108, the UofL Free Store is run by interns and volunteers who help process donations and keep the store tidy and organized in an effort to keep useful items out of the landfill while meeting the needs of the UofL community. In 2023-24 alone, the Free Store diverted 5,012 pounds of items from the landfill!
Donations of clean, functional items can be made any time in the small bin outside the door of the Free Store or in the large red bins at the Garden Commons next to the Baptist Center. Please do not drop off torn, broken, soiled, moldy or damp items. Unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to mend, repair, or launder donations.
Donations can be made anytime the Free Store is open, or 24/7 in the large red bins at the Garden Commons next to the Baptist Center.
UofL promotes an inclusive environment for all, regardless of gender identity and/or gender expression. The Free Store is a Transgender-Friendly space.
The store is open to all UofL students and employees during set hours each week during the regular academic year. Volunteers wanted!
If you would like to volunteer (sign-up here!) or have questions about the Free Store, please contact our Free Store Manager:
Lily Clagett (270) 304-8233.
Volunteer!
The UofL Free store relies on volunteers to help us create an efficient, safe, and excellent service for the campus community. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, sign-up here, or contact us at uoflfreestore@gmail.com.
Typical volunteer responsibilities include:
- Greeting patrons with a friendly and welcoming attitude
- Protecting the confidentiality of patrons
- Cleaning and organizing the Free Store
- Keeping store a clean, bright, and welcoming environment
- Emptying waste bins as needed
- Weighing and tracking donations into our donation chart
- Canvassing campus with promotional flyers, chalkboards, and other materials
- Reporting any issues to Free Store manager
- Checking donation bin when needed and restocking store
All Volunteers must commit to one hour shift of volunteer work per week during the fall or spring semester. Volunteers are recommended not to overwork themselves and keep their curricular work, mental and physical health, and personal health a priority.
Free Sales!
The Free Store organizes pop-up Free Sales during Welcome Week and throughout the year at fairs and events around campus. If you'd like to have us at your event, get in touch. In the past, we also held monthly Free Sales at the Red Barn (outside in good weather).
Thank You!
In addition to all our amazing volunteers, the Free Store is grateful for support from all of our sponsors over the years, including the UofL Sustainability Council, Canon, the Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN), Walsh / Turner Construction, Republic Services, and the Kroger Zero Hunger | Zero Waste grant in support of UofL's sustainability initiatives!
History & Press:
With the support of the UofL Sustainability Council, the UofL Free Store was first opened in August 2013 by students from a former RSO called Group Recycling And Sustainable Solutions (GRASS) through a partnership with Campus Housing, which allotted to the project a small, hard-to-find space in Unitas Hall Basement Room 06 (163sf). Beginning in 2017, Zero Waste Interns with the UofL Sustainability Council took over the role of managing the Free Store, but GRASS volunteers continued to play a vital role in its operations until the group folded in 2019 and Housing asked the Free Store to vacate its space in Unitas Hall.
For two years during the COVID pandemic, the Free Store was temporarily relocated to Urban & Public Affairs Room 123b with no set hours, as the Sustainability Council searched for a new space for the store to call home. In fall 2021, the Free Store had a Grand Reopening in an even smaller space, SAC room W303C (137sf). Over the summer of 2025, the Office of Student Engagement made a surprise decision to force the Free Store out of the SAC, despite four years of faithfully serving the campus population with regular hours from its tiny location.
In fall 2025, the UofL Free Store relocated to an abandoned space in the heart of campus, a larger (272 square feet), more accessible space at the rear of the Honors House, room 108.
UofL Free Store Trash to Treasure Move-Out to Move-In!
Starting with the 2023 Move-Out, the Free Store launched a new annual campaign to collect useful items as students move out from campus residence halls. The message to students is to skip the landfill dumpster and fill up the Free Store! We collect TONS of great stuff, then sort and store the items over the summer in order to give away as students return to campus for Move-In. We host two very popular pop-up Move-in Free Sales during Welcome Week to help students skip the trip to Target and get things they need for their new home without spending a dime. In 2023 alone, this initiative repurposed over 2,000 pounds of useful items! Why waste money on new stuff when we've got everything you need for your dorm and your wardrobe, all for FREE?!
UofL and the Free Store help December grad break the poverty cycle (UofL News, Dec. 7, 2022)
New University “Free Store” aims to combine convenience with sustainability (The Louisville Cardinal, Nov. 11, 2021)
Students in Group Recycling And Sustainable Solutions (GRASS) first joined forces with the UofL Sustainability Council and Campus Housing in Fall 2013 to open a permanent Free Store which was originally housed in the basement of Unitas Hall through Spring 2019. In 2017 alone, the Free Store helped keep over 700 pounds of items out of the landfill!
Sustainability at UofL: GRASS develops Free Store
(The Louisville Cardinal, 4/3/13)
