The Division of Campus Life partnered with the volunteer-run nonprofit, Charity Crossing, to host a Spirit Wednesday Pop-up Market to give free stuff to students. Available items included clothing, household items, small appliances, exercise equipment, artwork, and much more.

Students stopped by the Commons Meeting Rooms from 10 a.m. to noon to find hundreds of items arranged on tables for them to look through. Tables were organized into categories, and students were allowed to take one item per table as they looked around the room.

Before the Pop-up Market was officially open, dozens of students lined up on the second floor of the Commons, waiting for their chance to enter while talking to their friends about what they hoped to find inside.

“I’m looking for some good warm clothes, it’s getting cold here now,” said Kaley Bloncourt ’28. Also maybe some house appliances. I’m really just looking around and seeing what they have.”

“I helped unload some of the stuff so I know there’s a lot of cool stuff in there,” Cassandra Rivenburg ’26 said. “I really need a can opener though, so if they have that I’m definitely getting one.”

This event comes as one of the many ways the Division of Campus Life has prioritized meeting students’ needs throughout their time at Arcadia.

“It’s good to help out the students who might not be able to afford some of these items or not have the means to go out and get them,” said Brison Williams ’26, who left with a box full of household items and a painting.

“You know we’re broke college students,” said Bloncourt. “So having something like this is great for us who are low income and can’t afford much.”

“When I didn’t have a car on campus in my first year, if I didn’t have something I was just out of luck,” added Rivenburg. “This would’ve been super helpful to me then. We have the [Knights Resource] pantry and stuff like that here, but this has the other items we can’t get there.”

Staci-Jo Palek, Assistant Director of Student Engagement, formed a connection with Lyzabeth Miller, a volunteer with the Charity Crossing team whose child is a current student at Arcadia. Miller mentioned that Charity Crossing receives hundreds of Amazon packages containing various goods that could be donated to the University. 

The night before the event, Palek and Allannah Giles ’23, ’25M, Coordinator of Student Engagement, rented a U-Haul and drove down to the Charity Crossing warehouse in Newark, Del., to pick up the donations. Miller and another volunteer, Rahima Tukur, then visited campus during the Pop-up Market to meet with students and help facilitate the event.

“We like to give back to the students as much as we can,” Palek explained. “If we can give back and make sure they get clothes, items, and anything else they need, it’s a big help. It always comes back to the needs of the students. We always try to figure out what they need and how we can meet those needs, and then do so with a fun pizzazz because that’s what we’re all about.”