Lost and Found

• Perishables

  • All food must be discarded. We do NOT want anything that could rot to be stored away!

  • Make sure you check lunchboxes, bags, etc. for anything that could rot. 

• Water Bottles

  • When a water bottle is turned in to the desk, use a Lost and Found label and write “Dispose of after [2 days from turn-in date]." Then, leave it on top of the cabinet. 

    • Example: If a water bottle is turned in on Tuesday the 12th, create a label that says “Dispose of after Wednesday the 14th”

    • If you notice a water bottle is still on the cabinet after 2 days, throw it away.

• There are a total of 6 blue bins upstairs (by the key vault/clock in area), where we store Lost and Found items after the current month has ended. 

• Lost and Found inventory must be done once a month, in which all items in our office from the past month are moved to the corresponding bin, and stored for 6 months. 

• In order to store the past month's items upstairs, you must empty & donate all items in the bin from the corresponding month. 

• Example: June has just ended. To complete inventory for June, retrieve the June-December bin from upstairs. Empty the bin, and donate all of the December items (and change items to grey in the spreadsheet). Then, put all of the June items in the bin (and change items to blue in the spreadsheet). 

• The Lost and Found from 6 months ago is contained in a blue bin in the designated storage area upstairs.  

• This bin is emptied and the items are thrown away or donated to a non-profit charity organization on a monthly basis.

• After the bin has been emptied, all of the items that are not valuable or security-sensitive from the month that just ended are moved from the Event Services storage cabinets and placed in the same blue bin from which items were donated.

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Step One: Donate/Discard/Turn-in Items from Six Months Ago

1. Retrieve the appropriate blue bin from storage 

2. Unsanitary items, or items unable to be donated should be thrown away, and the row on the spreadsheet should be highlighted in gray to indicate we no longer have item 

3. There should be no expensive or security-sensitive items in these storage bins. 

   • If you find any expensive or valuable items, you should notify the Student Manager or the Operations Coordinator, who will take them to UIPD. 

   • Highlight each item in gray to indicate we no longer have the item.

   • i-Cards are usually taken to the ID Center the Illini Union Bookstore ASAP after one month, although we do hold on to them longer at times, especially during the summer and break periods.

4. The rest of the items will be donated

   • Remove the stickers from items.

   • Any items in an envelope should be taken out and the envelope put in the box under the desk for reuse.

   • Put the items into a large garbage bag.  There should be a roll of bags stored in the Event Services Office.  If you need a new roll, notify the Operations Coordinator

   • ON the spreadsheet, highlight the items in gray to indicate we no longer have the item (in this case, they have been donated)  

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Step Two: Store/Discard/Turn-in Items from Last Month

1. Any i-Cards from the previous month should be taken to the ID Center on the first floor of the Illini Union Bookstore - highlight each item in gray to indicate we no longer have the item (in this case, given to ID Center).

2. State IDs cell phones are given to UIPD via Operations Coordinator– highlight each item in gray to indicate we no longer have the item (in this case given to UIPD).

3. Cell Phones, laptops, tablets, or anything of value that the police can trace with serial numbers are given to UIPD via the Operations Coordinator or Student Manager – change the fill color of the row from pink to gray to indicate we no longer have the item (in this case given to UIPD).

4. Other valuable items (i.e. credit cards, jewelry) will remain in the filing cabinet until it is time to shred/donate the item – keep them highlighted in pink.

5. The rest of the items will be stored for 5 more months in the blue bin and placed in the storage closet.  Find each item in the document and highlight the whole line in blue to signify it is in the blue bins.

6. If an item is in an envelope, it should remain it in envelope.

7. If an item is not in an envelope, make sure it has a sticker.

8.  If the sticker is falling off, secure it to the item. 

9.  If the sticker is missing, make a new one.

10. Throw away anything that may be unsanitary such as food containers, water bottles, and dirty clothing – use your discretion) and highlight the item  in gray to indicate we  no longer have the item (in this case, it has been discarded).

11. If any items are missing, highlight them in red and notify Operations Coordinator or Student Managers. 

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Spreadsheet Color-Coding

• Yellow - Item returned to individual

• Red - Item missing, or was returned but document not updated

• Blue - Item is upstairs in blue bins in storage

• Gray - Item donated, disposed of, or if it was valuable or security-sensitive, turned in to another campus office

• Pink - Item is valuable or security-sensitive and is being stored in the filing cabinet