Mission Blog Posts- Donations

As Earth Day Approaches we welcome guest blogger Danielle S. Nkojo, a waste and materials expert from the DC Government's Department of Energy and Environment. In today's post she delves into the profound environmental and personal impact shopping at retailers like Goodwill can have.

Celebrate Earth Day this year by visiting your local Goodwill!

Donated goods are the fuel that powers the economic engine which allows us to fulfill our mission of transforming lives and communities through the power of education and employment. The sale of these donated goods provides the funds for our free job training and career services.

For those of us in the DC area we will get just enough of a taste of warm weather that we’re chomping at the bit for spring’s arrival. However, as sure as the forsythia begins to bloom, the new season also heralds yet another not so pleasant event – spring cleaning.

While the resale of donated goods has been helping charitable organizations like Goodwill fund a variety of social services for decades, the strategies being implemented to generate those donations are rapidly changing.

Jack-o-lanterns, candy, costumes, ghost stories, and front lawns turned into faux graveyards… that’s right, it’s Halloween! During this time of year many people embrace the strange, far-out, and eccentric, and here at Goodwill of Greater Washington the atmosphere is no different.

In 2014, Goodwill of Greater Washington saw an increase of 8% in donated goods. Whether you made your donation of household goods, clothing or electronics at one of our donation centers or bins, organized a donation drive at your school or work or arranged for a home pick-up – you contributed financially to our mission of transforming lives and communities through the power of education and employment.

While Goodwill is extremely grateful for the immense generosity of those who donated their clothing and household goods to us this year, there are any number of ways you can still support Goodwill if your closet has been emptied.

The Halloween season. A time of the weird and the strange. The mysterious and the macabre. We thought we would take time out this year to spotlight some of the strangest donations Goodwills have received. Sort of a ghosts of Halloweens past.