Project ReCollect 2026 Breaks All Records!
Project ReCollect
is a volunteer-run campus and community waste-reduction and recycling program. Items are collected from students leaving in May, and resold in August to students moving in. This helps students furnish their living spaces economically while keeping useable items out of landfills.
Net proceeds from the Project ReCollect Sale benefit
Cops, Kids & Toys'
work to provide holiday gifts to children in need.
About Project ReCollect
Project ReCollect, a collaboration between Cornell University staff and Cops, Kids & Toys, was established to provide departing Cornell students with an easy way to donate their unneeded, Yet still serviceable, dorm room and apartment supplies and clothing for resale and reuse, thereby saving thousands of pounds of quality goods from the dumpster and landfill.
Donated items are sorted and priced by volunteers, and then sold, first to local college students, and then to the broader community. Proceeds from the Project ReCollect Sale support the purchase of holiday toys and gifts to families and children in need throughout Tompkins County.
The Impact of Your Support
From August 17 through 23, 2026, more than 10,000 people shopped at Project ReCollect, finding affordable furniture, clothing, household goods, toys, and other useful items donated by Cornell students and members of the community.
Behind the weeklong sale was an enormous community effort. More than 50 volunteers from Cornell and the surrounding community contributed hundreds of hours to pickups, sorting, merchandising, sales, administration, and cleanup.
This year’s record volume of donations included tens of thousands of items. Through the sale and the redistribution of unsold merchandise, Project ReCollect kept more than 70 tons of reusable goods out of the landfill and grossed $99,000 before costs.
Net proceeds from the Project ReCollect sale will support Cops, Kids & Toys and its holiday gift program that provides gifts to children throughout Tompkins County.
50+
Volunteers contributing hundreds of hours of service
70
Tons of perfectly useable items diverted from landfills
10K+
Student and community shoppers at the Project ReCollect Sale
$99K
Grossed with net proceeds benefitting Cops, Kids & Toys' holiday gift program
Frequently Asked Questions
2026 Price List
Volunteer for Project ReCollect
Project ReCollect would not be possible without the hundreds of hours contributed by our dedicated volunteer team. Volunteers sort, clean, organize and display merchandise, as well as run the sale.
Project ReCollect volunteers who work 20 or more hours are invited to attend a pre-sale event. Items are not sold prior to the pre-sale.
Sign up to become a Project ReCollect volunteer by emailing your availability and interests to: info@copskidsandtoys.org.
We regret that individuals who resell merchandise as a business cannot be volunteers.






