May 31, 2007 - Claremont, Calif. - For the third year in a row, Harvey Mudd College donated dormitory furniture to the Institution Recycling Network (IRN), an organization that places it in locations around the world where it is most needed.

Residential life furnishings that were removed for the renovation of West Hall on May 21 will be re-deployed and used by the neediest citizens in Spanish Town, Jamaica, and Managua, Nicaragua. A total of 509 pieces of residential life furnishings were removed from West and loaded onto ocean containers bound for their destinations. A total of 46,595 pounds (23.3 tons) of surplus furnishings was donated.

HMC Plant Engineer Tom Shaffer coordinated the project with IRN. In a letter to Shaffer, Mark Berry, surplus program manager for IRN, said, “I do appreciate all the support that you provided to get the project scheduled and completed. You and all of the HMC staff were very supportive prior to, and during the project, and that is what enabled us to move so quickly.”

HMC worked with IRN in donating 21 tons of furniture to impoverished areas of El Salvador in 2006, and for Hurricane Katrina victims relief efforts in 2005.