Goodwill

When I do a complimentary donation haul for my clients, most of the time, I drop off the items at Goodwill. There are certain things that I will make the effort to donate elsewhere if I know they can’t be sold (for example, strollers and highchairs, or bras and toiletries). But I still run into a lot of people who don’t want their stuff to go to Goodwill because it will be resold, and they prefer to donate directly to someone who will use the item. I suppose that’s fair, but have you ever stopped to wonder what Goodwill does with the money they make from donations?

I recently got to visit the Goodwill Resource Center in Austin with my local chapter of NAPO, and it was so interesting! Ashley Sondon, the Director of Donation Acquisitions, gave us a tour of the place and answered all our questions.

Most of us know Goodwill as a secondhand store, but it is so much more than that! Goodwill is very involved in helping the community. In Central Texas, they focus on helping newly released prisoners who don’t have resources; in Florida, they are more focused on helping veterans – this is all based on local needs. Goodwill of Central Texas offers education, job training, childcare, parenting classes, financial literacy classes, access to computers, you name it! They don’t just help someone find a job, they help educate and train that person for a career that interests them, and also teach them life skills. So really, when you donate to Goodwill, that’s what you are supporting!

 So, what happens when you donate items to Goodwill? First, they are sorted and will be put on the shelves of the store where they were donated. If they haven’t sold after 4 weeks (which you can check with the color of the price tag), they are moved to the outlet store. There, they are put in a bin that is roughly the size of a dining room table and 12 inches deep. Each bin is wheeled out onto the floor and things are sold by weight; they wheel out about 1000 bins each day, and each new bin is greeted by shoppers as if it were full of Black Friday deals! Whatever is left in the bin at the end of its time on the floor is wheeled to the back, baled up, and sold to third-parties or recycled if possible.

 Last year, Goodwill kept 93 million tons of items out of landfills, which was 80% of donations!

 There are programs in place to deal with specific categories. For example, Goodwill has a partnership with Dell to wipe and refurbish electronics when possible, and recycle the ones that cannot be resold. You can also shop online at Goodwill, where high-end items have been vetted (which isn’t the case in the brick-and-mortar stores). They partner with the Food Bank to collect non-perishable food donations. I was also surprised to see various bins of recyclables like glass and plastic bottles sorted out – I didn’t know you could donate those! Honestly, there are some drop-off points that are not careful with breakables, so I still don’t think that donating glass jars is a great idea, but I did see intact glass jars back there, so you never know!

 I had also previously advised my clients to separate the clothes they donate and clearly identify the ones meant for recycling (torn, stained, etc.). Ashley Sondon said that, as it turns out, those clothes do pretty well in the bins at the outlet, because there are people who buy them for crafting. So go ahead and donate them! Goodwill can also recycle items like car seats, but some items are off limits, like mattresses, ammunition, or construction materials. Up-to-date information is on their website, and I will gladly help my clients figure out their options!

Reba Bassett, Ana Contreras, Lilly Bullion, Sahiba Bassi, Kathy Blair, Amélie Saint-Jacques, and Kelly Dever at the Goodwill Resource Center in Austin TX (photo by Reba bassett)