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You're Invited to a Public Open House!
We are often asked, “What do you do with all that stuff!?” – of course, referring to the volumes of gently used items given to Goodwill by hundreds of thousands of generous donors every year. Goodwill has been and will always be good stewards of your very valuable and appreciated donations. In 2009, Goodwill resold, reused or recycled 8,378 TONS of donations. We’re excited to share with you all the wonderful things that Goodwill does with your sweaters, shoes, couches and coffee mugs! Q. What Happens to My Donation? When you donate clothes, dishes, shoes, electronics, or any other item to Goodwill, those items go through a process to ensure that we maximize their value – squeezing every bit of revenue from them to fund our mission – helping people find jobs! First, we sort items to determine if they are sellable at our Retail Stores. Sixty percent of donations make it to our store shelves, where they are sold to shoppers looking for quality items at affordable prices. When an item doesn’t sell in the stores, we try to sell it a second time in our Outlet Store at a significant discount. For those items
that just don’t sell, they are put into our salvage
stream where they are either sold to textile and
other recyclers. For those donations that do not
meet our quality standards, they too, end up in our
salvage stream. If the item cannot be salvaged, it
might be recycled in some other way. For example, if
Goodwill has extra dishes or glassware, it “trades”
another nonprofit organization in the community for
that organization’s extra clothing or household
items. Unfortunately some items must be disposed of.
Through this process of reselling goods and
recycling, Goodwill organizations across the
country have diverted billions of used
clothes and other goods from landfills. Plus,
nationally, Goodwill has earned hundreds of millions
of dollars by selling to salvage vendors – dollars
that help people find jobs to our community. Q. What’s in Goodwill’s Trash? Goodwill is fortunate to have such generous donors! We get everything you can imagine – and maybe even some things you can’t. You should know that goods that are soiled, broken, torn, recalled or bug-infested (yes, we see it all!) sometimes end up in the trash if we can’t find a way to salvage or recycle them. We do our best to keep “good stuff” out of landfills, and with nearly 400,000 donors dropping off multiple bags and boxes each year, sometimes things slip through. Before giving your gently used items to us, ask yourself if you would give it to a relative or a friend. Our shoppers are looking for quality second-hand goods, and disposing of items we can’t sell costs a lot of money. Every dollar we spend disposing of unusable donations is a dollar we cannot spend on our services to the community. Think, too, about
the safety of our shoppers. Don’t give us an item
that’s been recalled or deemed unsafe. By not giving
us these products, you help us ensure that never
make it to our store shelves. Our first concern is
the safety of our customers and donors, and we do
everything we can to protect them. Each day, we
carefully sort through all the donated items and
identify products that have been recalled by the
Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC). For every $1.00
that is spent in a Goodwill Store, 86 cents
goes back into our community, helping people
find jobs. In 2009, this amount of money helped to
train over 8,600 people for the workplace and helped
to place 870 people in jobs. This is
Goodwill’s true mission, and our Retail Stores are
just one way we fund it. We try our best to
communicate this message at our stores and donation
centers, but it’s true that many people don’t know
about the mission behind the storefront. Q. What Does Goodwill Do For the Homeless and Others in Crisis? Every day, we take
for granted our warm coat in the winter, the dishes
at our dinner table, and the comfy beds we sleep on.
Necessities for most can be luxuries to individuals
living in poverty or who have experienced a
life-changing catastrophe. It is for this reason
that the Elizabeth Clark Emergency Fund was
established. Through the 2-1-1 hotline, an
individual or family can request a voucher card to
use at Goodwill Stores to buy the everyday things
they need to get by. In 2009, over $50,000 was
distributed to individuals and families that include
homeless veterans, battered women and others in
financial crisis. Goodwill Industries of Akron has been a part of this community for more than 80 years, and we are honored to have you as part of our organization – as donors, shoppers, volunteers and participants in our programs. Our intention is to be open and honest with you about the way we operate.
You're Invited to a Public Open House!
If you can't attend a Public Open House, please call us at 330-724-6995 to schedule a tour. We'd be happy to show you around!
Contact Goodwill: 800-989-8428
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Quick Links
Q. What Happens to My Donation?
Q. What's in Goodwill's Trash?
Q. What Does Goodwill Do For the Homeless and Others in Crisis?
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