Middle Way House floods with donations from concert

Mountain-sized piles of clothing and toiletries covered the floors and counters of Middle Way House on Friday afternoon, blocking employees’ desks and flooding into the hallway.

“When I talked to the people from Victoria’s Secret, I had no idea it would be like that,” Clara Wilson, house manager of Middle Way House, said. “We were pretty overwhelmed when they showed up with a truck that looked like a moving van. When they said they were bringing it in a truck, I thought they meant a pick-up truck.”

All of the proceeds from the benefit concert put on by Victoria’s Secret on Thursday went to Middle Way House, a domestic violence and rape crisis center.

Wilson said she was informed of the donation a week before the concert.

“I had talked to a woman from corporate headquarters who told me what was happening,” she said. “At that point I had no idea how big it was really going to be.”

Many of the items donated are perfect for the shelter, Wilson said. When women go to the shelter, they almost always come with nothing, she said, and are given a bag of toiletries.

“We’ve got enough toiletries now to make bags from now ’til the next century,” Wilson said. “I spent 12 hours this weekend sorting through the stuff.”

The monetary donation raised by the event will have to go through corporate headquarters at Victoria’s Secret, Wilson said. Middle Way House has not yet been informed of how much money the concert raised, she said.

However, IU spokesperson Larry MacIntyre said the concert raised about $5,000.
Junior Sara Lewis said she received a flyer for the concert at the beginning of the day Thursday.

“It kind of shows we’re a really involved school,” she said. “It shows we get involved for all causes.”

Though the concert and giveaways offered by Victoria Secret served as motivations for students to donate, freshman Ben Buddig said being able to have fun and give back at the same time was a nice part of the event.

The donations reflect the IU community, Wilson said, because that is where the concert took place, and IU students are the ones who donated.

“I’m not sure if there was an incentive for students to donate,” she said. “But Victoria’s Secret put a lot of money and a lot of effort into this whole thing. We were just doubly fortunate we were the charity selected for them to work toward. I had no idea it was going to be anything that huge.”