by BECKY GOFF
Little Apple Post
MANHATTAN - Furniture Amnesty Day is an annual free gently used furniture exchange day.
Community members can donate gently used furniture or pick up furniture at no cost to them.
Furniture Amnesty Day is held at Manhattan's City Park in the parking lot by Miller Field.
There are no income requirements or forms to complete in order to participate.
Registration is required to participate in the scheduled timeslots of the furniture giveaway.
Registration begins at 8:00 am on Friday, July 29th, with free shopping timeslots starting at 11:00 am and goes until 4:00 pm.
Participants may choose up to 5 furniture items at no cost to them. Participants are responsible for arranging transportation for their chosen items. Delivery service will not be provided.
“August is the most common month for people in Manhattan to move,” said Ryan Courtright, assistant chief of risk reduction for the Manhattan Fire Department. “We used to see a lot of furniture abandoned at the curb every August. Since some refuse companies do not pick up those large items, we were issuing a lot of code violation notices and furniture just sat and deteriorated. Furniture Amnesty Day grew out of an idea to help solve that problem and get that furniture to people who could use it.”
Additional information from the City of Manhattan regarding Furniture Amnesty Day:
-Furniture can be donated in two ways: 1) residents within Manhattan city limits can sign up online by 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 27 to have volunteers pick up their donated furniture at the curbside of their residence; or 2) donations can be dropped off at Miller Field in City Park from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, July 29.
-Acceptable donations include: Sofas, couches, desks, recliners, end tables, dressers, headboards, chairs, and kitchen tables.
-Donations that will not be accepted include: mattresses, dishwashers, pianos, grills, refrigerators, televisions, computers, or other electronics.
“Generally, we don’t accept anything that needs to be plugged in,” Courtright said.
Any furniture left unclaimed at 4 p.m. on the day of the event will be open to the general public without registration. At 4:30 p.m., the event will end. Any remaining pieces will be hauled away by staff and volunteers.
Volunteers are available to pick up furniture donations at the curb for anyone living within Manhattan city limits. Volunteers only will pick up a maximum of five (5) furniture items per location. Again, furniture sets such as a table and chairs still count as only one item.
To register for pickup service, please sign up online at cityofmhk.com/furniture or call the City Manager’s Office at (785) 587-2404 during regular business hours. The deadline to register for pickup service is 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 27. All items for donation pickup need to be at the curb by 7 a.m. Friday, July 29. Volunteers will not enter homes or private property to pick up donations.
If weather prevents the event from taking place on July 29, it will be canceled.
It takes lots of help to make Furniture Amnesty Day happen. HandsOn Kansas State is organizing the volunteer effort again this year. Anyone interested in helping should fill out a volunteer form at cityofmhk.com/furniture. Volunteers can decide which three-hour shift works best with their schedule. Drinks and snacks will be provided.
Manhattan’s Annual Furniture Amnesty Day is hosted by the City of Manhattan, the Staley School of Leadership at K-State, HandsOn Kansas State, and Konza United Way. For more information, please visit cityofmhk.com/furniture.