Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Have you been to Goodwill lately???



Who doesn't love a good bargain?  We find alot of good deals at our various Goodwill locations in our area.  We pick up things like books, dvds, bookshelves, blanket donations for the Humane Society, games, and even clothes.  And always at a fraction of the original cost.

We had a wonderful opportunity to visit a local Goodwill location that serves as a distribution center for the area.  They actually house an internet location for Shop Goodwill .com .   Sell 1000s of items daily.

History of Goodwill Industries:

Morgan mission was started originally as an urban outreach ministry, in 1902, of Morgan Methodist Chapel, BostonMassachusetts, which was pastored by Reverend Edgar J. Helms, a Methodist minister and early social innovator. Helms and his congregation collected used household goods and clothing being discarded in wealthier areas of the city, then trained and hired the unemployed or bereft to mend and repair them. The products were then redistributed to those in need or were given to the needy people who helped to repair them. In 1915, Helms hosted a visit to Morgan Memorial by representatives of a workshop mission in Brooklyn, NY, and they learned about the innovative programs and the operating techniques of the "Morgan Memorial Cooperative Industries and Stores, Inc." Helms was subsequently invited to visit in New York. Out of these exchanges came Brooklyn's willingness to adopt and adapt the Morgan Memorial way of doing things, while Helms was persuaded that Brooklyn's name for its workshop, "Goodwill Industries," was a marked improvement over the Morgan Memorial name. Thus was officially born Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries, and that, plus Brooklyn's interest and ties, became the foundation on which Goodwill Industries was to be built as an international movement. (From For the Love of People, by John Fulton Lewis.)
Today Goodwill has become a $3.25 billion not-for-profit organization.[1] Helms described Goodwill as an "industrial program as well as a social service enterprise...a provider of employment, training and rehabilitation for people of limited employability, and a source of temporary assistance for individuals whose resources were depleted."
Goodwill Industries Mission:

Our Mission

Goodwill Industries International enhances the dignity and quality of life of individuals, families and communities by eliminating barriers to opportunity and helping people in need reach their fullest potential through the power of work.

Our Vision

Every person has the opportunity to achieve his/her fullest potential and participate in and contribute to all aspects of life.

Our Values

Respect
We treat all people with dignity and respect.
Stewardship
We honor our heritage by being socially, financially and environmentally responsible.
Ethics
We strive to meet the highest ethical standards
Learning
We challenge each other to strive for excellence and to continually learn.
Innovation
We embrace continuous improvement, bold creativity and change.


For nearly 110 years, Goodwill®has been an entrepreneurial leader, environmental pioneer and social innovator of the “reduce, reuse, repurpose” practice.
Goodwill diverts more than two billion pounds  of clothing and household goods every year from landfills by recovering the value in people’s unwanted material goods. In the process, we create job-training opportunities as well as entry-level and skilled green-collar jobs for people in need of work.



They have some wonderful programs to help reduce the trash going into the landfills.  So it's not just about saving a buck like most people think.  They even recycle the stuff that cannot be sold because of stains, tears, etc by selling it to companies for reuse as rags, etc.  So even if you think it won't be bought, donate it anyway.  They are pretty ingenious at re-purposing at Goodwill.

Do you know how many services you can help provide to people by participating in the Donation Movement??

Check out the link where you can estimate how much you can help.....here.


CALCULATE YOUR IMPACT*

START HERE!

  • Clothing:

YOUR ITEMS

Jeans
4

YOUR IMPACT

46MINUTES OFON-THE-JOB TRAINING

share this













Just donating 4 pairs of jeans can provide on-the-job training for 46 minutes!!!!

If you want to get involved in the Donation Movement, check it out here......Donation Movement for Kids.

We actually missed the first 45 minutes of the trip, due to inconsiderate doctors....but got there in time to see the separating facility in the basement.

This is the initial unloading of donations.  I didn't even get the full area in the shot.  It was huge, and at least 20-30 of those large boxes full of stuff.

These are all boxes of books that have been returned from the stores because they were not selling.  We were all questioning why they didn't sell!  There were some good ones, or maybe it was just us homeschoolers that thought they were great!
 If you didn't know, Goodwill sells books on places like Amazon Marketplace and even Ebay.  I recommend buying from them because I have been purchasing specifically from them on Ebay and Amazon for a while now and have never had a bad experience.  Quick shipping, and the books are always just as described...no surprises!!!  Plus you know exactly where the money is going!

This is the E-Book Sale area in Toledo.

 This is all stuff waiting to be listed on Shop Goodwill.  Hundreds of boxes.  They list up to 1000 items daily!


 They work with HP to recycle old computers.  This is a few of the stacks of used equipment...

 Those are all boxes of computers piled high!
 Lydia loved the huge box of "mouses".

They recycle about 750,000 pounds of computer equipment at this location annually!!!


We missed this video playing, but the others said it was wonderful and a great way to get to know all that Goodwill does.
Thank you Betsy soooo much for setting up such a wonderful educational and eye-opening field trip!

Think twice before you buy new!


Linking up with Anna-Marie....See what other homeschoolers are doing!






2 comments:

  1. What a great opportunity to see all that goes on behind the scenes. I will be looking out for them on amazon from now on, thanks for the tip. Thanks for linking up to the Field trip hop and sharing this great adventure:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. What an amazing field trip. I would never have thought to visit Goodwill. We have gone to a recycle plant before, and that was also very interesting. I am going to check out their books!

    ReplyDelete