ShareFest diverts 95 tons of goods; volunteers and local partners drive increase

Carol Michael, the organizer presenting Oxford’s ShareFest report, told City Council the 2025 event diverted roughly 95 tons of food, clothing, furniture and e‑waste from the landfill and passed those items on to local organizations.

The annual ShareFest, held May 15–20 this year, collected donations from residence halls and campus sites and from town residents. “This year, we diverted 95 tons, food, clothing, furniture, and household goods, and e waste in the landfill, and got them on to people who could use them,” Michael said. She said that was “more than 20 tons more than last year.”

The nut graf: ShareFest’s haul was routed to multiple local and regional nonprofits and programs, expanding capacity for the city’s move‑out season and increasing neighborhood participation. Michael said about one‑third of donations came from townspeople rather than students, and volunteer participation from the community nearly doubled year over year.

Michael gave specific recipients and amounts: Goodwill of Greater Cincinnati received nine trailers of goods totaling more than 70 tons; Open Hands Pantry in Hamilton received about 12 tons of food and materials; Parkview Arms’ resident council received about 3,000 pounds of items; and New Life Furniture Bank and Cohen Recycling were listed as partners. Michael said Goodwill received “their highest receipt ever,” and that its intake included both material goods and food distributions.

She also described volunteer staffing and outreach: 35 Miami University student volunteers helped hang about 1,800 door tags; Goodwill provided 10 paid staff under Josh Hamblin’s supervision; the city included ShareFest in its move‑out guide and communications; and neighborhood volunteer groups and local nonprofits supplied pickup and sorting support. Michael said event expenses were modest because of gifts‑in‑kind from Butler County Solid Waste District, the city (dumpsters and Chestnut Fields parking lot), and Thread of Oxford providing a van. She told council other cash expenses were under $500 and covered by past donations.

Councilors asked a few clarifying questions and thanked Michael for the written report. Michael said organizers will explore options next year to place a temporary storage site for mattresses and to station volunteers at problem dumpsters during move‑out to divert useful items from trash.

The meeting record shows Council received the report and asked no formal action; Michael closed by thanking the city for its ongoing partnership.