KU News Release

Spring cleaning: Time to donate unwanted records, CDs, stereos to Audio-Reader

LAWRENCE — Go green this year by donating unwanted — but new or gently used — audio electronics to a worthy cause.

Recycled music and sound gadgets are worth a fortune to the University of Kansas’ Audio-Reader, a reading service for the blind and visually impaired, as it prepares for its annual For Your Ears Only fundraiser to be held this fall.

Donation drives for audio items to sell at the fundraiser will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 12, in the parking lot of Hy-Vee at 135th Street and Antioch Road in Overland Park; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 26, at Hy-Vee at Clinton Parkway and Kasold Drive in Lawrence; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 10, at Dillons, 21st Street and Fairlawn Road in Topeka.

Audio-Reader staff and volunteers will be on hand at each donation drive to help unload items. The first 20 people who stop by with a donation will receive a free Audio-Reader coffee mug or a bowl made from a recycled vinyl album.

Janet Campbell, director of Audio-Reader, said the sale raised about $20,000 for the service last year but that success depends on receiving thousands of donated CDs, record albums, stereos, turntables and other audio goods from the community.

“If you have record albums or CDs gathering dust at home, this is great incentive to share your music and audio equipment with a worthwhile cause,” Campbell said.

Donations also will be accepted at Audio-Reader, 1120 W. 11th St., Lawrence; Kief’s AudioVideo, 2429 Iowa St., Lawrence; Sears, 2727 Iowa St., Lawrence; Express Wireless, 2131 SW Fairlawn Plaza Drive, Topeka; or KCUR 89.3 FM, 4825 Troost, Suite 202, Kansas City, Mo., through July 31.

Audio-Reader relies on a unique blend of volunteer voices and advanced technology to provide free reading services to the blind and print-disabled throughout Kansas and western Missouri. Services include high-quality broadcasts and recordings of current newspapers, books, magazines and other printed materials.

For more information about Audio-Reader, call (800) 772-8898 or visit the organization’s Web site. Audio-Reader’s services are available free of charge to anyone who has difficulty reading printed materials.

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