Student-Run Summit Free Market Ready for Spring Events

The Summit Free Market is a popular seasonal City of Summit initiative that invites residents to bring unwanted, yard sale-quality items to the Transfer Station, and take whatever they want, for free!

Since its conception in 2009, the spring and fall events have been a huge success, saving over 60 tons from the incinerator and landfill, and launching an online companion to facilitate sharing and reusing all year round. Residents of Summit have returned year after year in growing numbers with unique and useful items. But what sets the Summit Free Market apart from all the other initiatives in the city is that it is entirely student run.

The core committee is comprised of six Summit High School students, who have taken the idea of a Freecycle event and turned it into a functional event that has had a positive impact on the community as a whole. The seed money was given as a Sustainable Communities grant by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. The students worked to create a logo, design a marketing plan, and oversee all event day logistics with the help of three adult mentors. Although some students have graduated and moved on, the current committee consists of student chairman Claire Harrison, a sophomore, and juniors Hope Trisler, Kevin Fitzpatrick, Max Macpherson, Garrett Elton, and Luca Guadagno.

The committee works to coordinate volunteers, unload cars and check items for the physical events, maintain the website, and manage the middle school volunteers, who receive community service hours for the time they spend helping out. Adult volunteers from the City of Summit Environmental Commission and Recycling Advisory Committee, as well as the community at large, help to facilitate the Saturday events. Without the help of the City of Summit Department of Community Services, this event would not be possible. DCS works to maintain the site, collect recycling materials, and help store contents from one week to the next.

If you would like to get involved as a volunteer at the spring events, which will be taking place on April 28th, May 5th, and May 12th, 8 AM-3 PM, please email summitfreemarket@cityofsummit.org. Hope to see you there!

By Claire Harrison, Summit High School student and Chair of Summit Free Market