Leave It To Beaver is a small “swap shop” tucked away in Olin 128 where students donate gently used items ranging from shoes and clothes to televisions and other miscellaneous appliances. In turn, students in need can stop by and take whatever necessities are available, free of charge.
While many students have heard about Leave It To Beaver through Blackburn email announcements, traffic remains sparse. Senior biology major April Goodwin reported that “my freshman year I had heard about a job opening in Leave It To Beaver, but I didn’t apply because I didn’t know what it was.” Although she has never been to Leave It To Beaver, Goodwin noted, “I’ve had a couple of friends that have gone there … they liked it.”
Junior business management major Danielle Jackson is the sole worker this semester and therefore the 10 open hours per week revolve around her schedule. Jackson commented that “it is hard for students to come in during the only times I have available.”
In order to better serve the Blackburn community, Leave It To Beaver is working with the Sustainability Club to improve student utilization of their resources. Jackson stated that “right now we’re working on a survey that we will send out to the Blackburn community,” and, following the results of the survey, “we’ll decide where to go with how we’re going to run Leave It To Beaver.” Both organizations have also discussed a proposed solution to reconcile the number of open hours for the coming fall semester. Instead of just 10 hours per week that are subject to her schedule, Jackson reported that “we’re thinking about … eight in the morning to eight at night.” With the significant expansion of open hours, there are hopes that more students will frequent Leave It To Beaver, and will have their needs met.
While additional hours could mean more opportunity for students to stop in, Jackson also explained that the time change wouldn’t necessarily mean more workers. It may require “having a couple people from Sustainability, or myself, come in to check and make sure everything is running smoothly.”
Jackson also commented on another proposal of changing the overall atmosphere of the shop. She stated that “we could, maybe, revamp Leave It To Beaver … get some new clothing racks and new shelving units so we can actually organize a little better. We’ve also thought about painting the walls to make it a little more inviting.”
The open hours for Leave It To Beaver this semester are:
Monday: 8:00 – 9:30 a.m.
Tuesday: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and 12:30 – 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday: 8:00 – 9:30 a.m.
Thursday: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and 12:30 – 2:00 p.m.
Friday: 8:00 – 9:30 a.m.