Employee runs lost and found, reunites owners with belongings

Tucked away at the end of a corridor on the ground floor of Ballantine Hall is a room full of things that might belong to you.\nTo the right stands a wall of keys -- car keys, dorm room keys and anything that fits in a lock hang from this wall -- even the locks themselves. This room is full of necessities -- boxes of glasses, shelves of textbooks, bags of clothes and Darla Munger, who helps sort through it all. \nMunger is the head of the campus' central lost and found. Any weekday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., students and faculty can meet with Munger to find what they have lost. \n"First, I ask them when they lost it," said Munger, who carefully tags all items and organizes them by the date they were found. "I also ask for a description. I'm sure there's times when I've given someone the wrong thing, but I try to make sure things get back to their rightful owner."\nMunger has come across unusual objects, such as laptops and a blind man's walking cane, since she started the job two years ago.\n"You think he would miss that," Munger said about the cane.\nWhen she's not reuniting people with their lost property, Munger organizes the materials she collects from other IU lost and found locations.\n"We get things at our lost and found daily," said Aaron Ritter, a senior who works at the Indiana Memorial Union. "Every three or four weeks, we bring it all over to Ballantine to the central lost and found." \nAlong with the piles of clothes and books, Munger has also found friendship.\nIn September of 2002, Jeff Walker made his first visit to the lost and found.\n"I lost a calculator, a math book, a hat and gloves," Walker said. "I recovered everything but the math book. Ever since then, I've been coming back in to say 'hi'."\nWalker, who is a senior now, even invited Munger to Thanksgiving dinner with his family.\n"I've got no family here," Munger said, "So I was so happy when Jeff invited me to Thanksgiving dinner." \nAs the semester comes to a close, Munger is preparing to clear off the shelves. All unclaimed items from this past school year will be donated to various charities the second week of May. \n"The dorm keys get melted down and used again," Munger said. "The School of Optometry gets the glasses and donates them to Third World countries. The Boys and Girls Club gets the sports equipment. Goodwill and Backstreet Missions get any good clothing."\nWhether the items are lost or found, Munger is just happy to be of service.\n"I'm thrilled to help people," Munger said. "When they find what they are looking for, I'm almost as happy as they are."\n-- Contact staff writer Greg Ingram at rgingram@indiana.edu.