Cleaning out your house? Donate your unwanted items to the Thrift Store!

Since Boston weather has gotten especially cold these past few days, I took the time to re-arrange my closet to bring out those winter jackets and put away the summer clothes. As I was cleaning my room and digging through my closet, I collected a huge pile of clothes and other items that no longer fit me or my interest. As tempted as I was to throw the trash bag full of things into the dumpster behind my apartment, I brought my bag of unwanted things to my local thrift store, Goodwill Thrift Store. Knowing that my items were going to help a good cause, instead of sitting in a landfill, made me feel as though I made some sort of an impact.

Before researching for this blog post, I never knew where exactly the proceeds from the donated items went once someone makes a purchase from Goodwill. Boy, did I learn a lot after looking on their website.


Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries' mission is to provide exemplary job training and related services to  help individuals with disabilities and other barriers to self-suffiency to achieve independence and dignity through work.


Founded in 1985, Goodwill is dedicated to the social justice mission of serving individuals, families, and communities with the greatest needs by helping people go to work to better support themselves and their families. Goodwill annually serves more than 7,200 low-income, unemployed and underemployed adults in its job training and career services programs, and more than 1,000 young people in its youth services programs. Goodwill makes high quality clothing and household goods available at reasonable prices throughout The Goodwill Stores. Goodwill is a major employer of individuals with disabilities in the social enterprises, operating in retail, housekeeping, and maintenance, food service and light assembly.


Not only that, but Goodwill makes high quality clothing and household goods available at reasonable prices through The Goodwill Stores. This is important because families are able to get basic necessities, like clothes, kitchen supplies, coats, and other things, at a reasonable rate instead of paying full price at other stores.

The Donate Movement

Recently, Goodwill launched The Donate Movement, which shows people they have the power to strengthen their communities, make a difference in people's lives, and create a healthier environment by donating. In 2009, Goodwill provided critical services to nearly 2 million people and diverted more than one billion pounds of usable items from landfills. Every day, especially with our economy, the need for Goodwill's programs and services increases every day. Donate a few times a year to Goodwill. Spread the word about The Donate Movement.


You can even calculate your impact below by listing the number and type of items you are donating. Recently the two coats, three pairs of jeans, and the old books I donated, helped give over an hour of Job Search Class for someone. Read some of the survivor stories, like Doyle McGee, a recovering alcoholic who was helped greatly by the services Goodwill provides.





Levi's Strauss & Co., partnered with Goodwill, to launch "A Care Tag for Our Planet" to keep billions of unwanted clothing out of landfills and in to the hands of good use. Kudos to Levi's for being the first major retailer to include messaging on product tags encouraging people to wash in cold, line dry & donate to Goodwill.


A cool thing you can enter is the Donate Movement Photo Contest sponsored by Levi's. Grand prize includes a Levi's prize pack (valued at $400).






Spread the word about this movement on Facebook and Twitter or on your blog.


For a list of locations in Massachusetts, including Boston, visit here.


Donating items to Goodwill may seem like a small thing, but it can make a big difference. What will you donate? Tell me about your recent donation and what inspired you to donate. :)