BROOKINGS — The shirt hanging in your closet. That bicycle in the garage. Old books gathering dust on your shelves.
Trish Matson Buus
Oftentimes they’ll, at best, simply lay forgotten in the corners of our homes and garages or, at worst, wind up in a landfill. Trish Matson Buus doesn’t want that to happen: They’re all still usable by someone, and the way to get them into more loving hands is through a Free Share & Care Day event.
“I do kind of operate under the assumption that if you build it, they will come,” she told the Brookings City Council during its March 24 meeting. “And so, what may start as a small idea can really, in my mind at least, turn into something like a bit of a movement, actually.”
Intended as a decentralized, volunteer-driven event, Brookings’s first Free Share & Care Day event will be from 8 a.m. to noon April 25. People can learn more about it on its Facebook page, “Brookings Free Share & Care Day,” while its Google signup form can be accessed via https://forms.gle/4uQxyhRsZp11HCLfA.
“Many people in today’s world have too much ‘stuff,’ right? In some ways, it feels like consumerism is at an all-time high, especially due to the ease of buying and the speed at which we can receive what we purchase,” Buus told The Brookings Register. “For families with kids, like mine, there’s a constant cycle of outgrowing clothes and toys.”
The problem, at least for her, was deciding what was the best thing to do with the usable items she no longer needed.
“I think many of us would love to feel better about where our usable items are going — making sure that items end up with people who can use them without it costing folks an arm and a leg,” Buus said.
The free-share event in Brookings would work via residents hosting share spots — think mini-rummage sales — offering wares for free. Such spots could be driveways, yards, porches or shared spaces, she said. A map would be available to help residents find the share spots, and hosts would be responsible for removing any leftover items after the event ends.
“When they sign on the Google form, they are agreeing that they are responsible — that they’re held responsible — for cleanup,” Buus said, responding to an inquiry from Councilor Bonny Specker. “At that point, it might be a trip to the thrift store. It’s not something that the city is responsible for — coming around and cleaning up or anything like that.”
Buus said that, ultimately, the Brookings Free Share & Care Day event is:
• A community-led sustainability initiative.
• A structured, time-limited sharing event.
• A simply way to reduce landfill waste.
• A support system for families and students.
• An opportunity for a neighborhood to connect with itself.
• An Earth Day-aligned civic effort. This year, Earth Day falls on April 22.
• A model for other cities to emulate.
Pioneering effort
In her research leading up to the City Council presentation, Buus learned that while other communities across the nation had similar events, they were always limited to certain neighborhoods within those communities. She said she’s yet to discover a city-wide free-share event — but Brookings could be the first community to pioneer a way forward.
“I thought to myself, ‘If any city could make it happen, it’s Brookings.’” Buus recalled. Her belief in that was reinforced by her previous track record with giving stuff away for free.
“Over the years, I have hosted a couple of completely free rummages at our house. Things went pretty quickly, so it seemed like maybe it was the perfect answer for me,” Buus explained. “Recently, I figured what worked well for me could work well for others, too.”
She said the Free Share & Care Day event offers not only a relief valve of sorts for people, but that it can help nonprofit organizations as well.
“I know plenty of worthy nonprofit organizations in town, but they can’t always use these types of donations,” Buus said. “If the timing for the need and the donation don’t match up, the organization doesn’t have endless space to store items.”
And, honestly, it’s a bit personal, too, for her. “I just don’t have the time or the desire to sell individual items online anymore, and I swore off pricing items for traditional rummage sales long ago.”
Success, dignity
Buus said she has some considerations in mind when it comes to whether she’ll consider the upcoming free-share event a success.
“A citywide success in my eyes would be positive feedback from individuals and organizations, saying that the event met some of their current needs,” she said. “Additionally, if the city felt that things went well and that the share spot hosts followed through with proper clean up and disposal of any leftover items — that would be a huge success, and it would prove that this could be a positive annual event for Brookings.”
Beyond that, and looming over a lot of things, is something called dignity. For all their noble intents and purposes, other giveaway events sometimes leave their beneficiaries feeling less than dignified. It’s a very real issue that Buus hopes to address with the free-share event in Brookings.
“Traditional giveaway events can sometimes make people feel singled out. This model is different because it’s spread throughout neighborhoods and open to everyone. There’s no line, no eligibility, and no distinction between giving and receiving — neighbors are simply sharing with neighbors,” she explained. “That creates a more natural, everyday environment where people can participate comfortably, take what they need, and give what they can — all with a sense of dignity and community.”
Queries from councilors
Following Buus’s presentation, councilors had a few questions and ideas of their own, along with praise.
“One thing that, in my mind, might be nice — but it might be a timing issue — is to do it before the (Residential Spring Bulky Item Pickup on April 13-17),” Specker said. “I know I have a couple things that — we always put stuff out that still works, hoping somebody will pick it up and use it. If I hold those back and wait for this and then nobody takes it, it’s …”
Buus said it seems the city has focused primarily on bulky items for several years now, and that the Free Share & Care Day event allows for smaller items that a person might normally have at a rummage sale. She also pointed to its proximity to Earth Day this year and, lastly, mentioned weather-related concerns, especially with snow, at this time of year.
Meanwhile, Councilor Brianna Doran brought up two other considerations as well, ones that might be implemented in the event’s second year. These were providing tables for people to display their items and weekend transportation options for families that might involve churches or volunteers, since Brookings Area Transit Authority doesn’t run on Saturdays or Sundays.
Buus was amenable to the ideas, noting that people sometimes will use tarps or blankets instead of tables to put their items on — a degree of welcomed ingenuity and resourcefulness.
In closing, Doran complimented Buus’s push for the Free Share & Care Day event in Brookings.
“Thank you, Trish, for taking the initiative and planning this in the community … I really appreciate this concept.”
— Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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