Late March marks the beginning of spring in North Georgia. Its arrival brings blooming flowers, warmer temperatures and spring cleaning to communities across the area.
Rather than gathering the clothes and household items you no longer need and dumping them or placing them on the curb, consider donating them to Goodwill of North Georgia. When you donate gently used items, they do more than stock shelves in the stores. The money earned from the resale of your donated items helps support the operations of Goodwill’s career centers and skill training programs. Your donated goods not only help your neighbors find jobs, but they also keep millions of pounds of waste out of North Georgia’s landfills.
The history of Goodwill of North Georgia
Goodwill of North Georgia began serving the local community in 1925. Each year, the items donated help divert more than 45 million pounds from local landfills and place another 42 million items in circulation through the company’s 71 retail stores. That figure places Goodwill of North Georgia among the state’s top non-profit organizations in terms of sustainability.
Goodwill of North Georgia is all about making sustainability simple. When you donate or shop, you’re helping to keep items out of landfills—and you’re giving those treasures a second chance.
Donate this spring
To make spring cleaning feel more productive, here is a donation pro tip: grab a few storage containers or save some cardboard boxes from recent deliveries. Mark one for donations, one for storage and the other for trash. This way, it’s easy to sort as you proceed through each room. Have a winter coat that you wore all season? Drop it in the box marked for storage. Spot a winter outfit that you bought four years ago and it still has the tags on it? Place that in the donations box. Someone else out there could get a lot of use out of that outfit. But if that outfit doesn’t get snatched up by one of Goodwill’s thousands of thrifters, Goodwill of North Georgia has sustainable plans for the items shoppers don’t purchase.
Goodwill of North Georgia’s commitment to sustainability goes beyond the sales floor. When certain donated items don’t sell in the stores, they partner with salvage vendors to give those items another chance—reselling things like clothing, accessories, toys, books, and more. For items that can’t be reused, Goodwill of North Georgia collaborates with recycling partners who responsibly break down materials such as electronics, plastics, cardboard, and metals. It’s all part of their mission to extend the life of every donation and reduce waste wherever they can.
How do your donations help?
Your donation does more than divert an item you no longer need away from a landfill. The revenue generated by those donations goes right back into the community, funding job training and employment programs that have helped thousands of North Georgians find meaningful employment.
The company’s career and employment services are completely free and help a diverse range of job seekers.
Marisa Lordo visited the Athens Career Center along with her mom, hopeful they could find a program to help Marisa prepare for life after high school. After a representative from the career center worked with Lordo, preparing her for interviews and helping her find an internship, she ultimately earned a career working with animals, something she loved to do.
“Goodwill makes life a lot easier. They really do help you! They have so many resources and encourage you to do what you need to do to get a job,” Marisa said.
Following a visit to Goodwill’s Woodstock Career Center, Michelle Solomon earned an opportunity as a billing specialist and is on her way to her Certified Professional Coder credential, despite significant physical barriers.
“Thanks to Goodwill, I was able to enroll in an area of study I’ve been wanting to do for years. When I got the opportunity to be in the program, I was so happy. I worked hard and remained focused on reaching my goal,” Solomon said.
When veteran Scott Beam left the U.S. Marine Corps, he faced real challenges. But he wanted to enter the workforce. At Goodwill’s Metropolitan Parkway Career Center, Beam dove into the commercial driver’s license skills training course and ultimately passed the state certification test and was offered a driver position with benefits and growth opportunities.
“My experience with Goodwill was overwhelmingly positive and successful. They made sure my Roadmaster school was paid for and provided me with the preparation classes to help me with passing the CDL permit test,” Scott said. “Thank you so much, Goodwill, for all you did for me and others.”
Lordo, Soloman and Beam have your donations to thank for those opportunities. And so do thousands of other job seekers – your donations are making a big difference right here in North Georgia.
Just last year, Goodwill of North Georgia served over 48,000 people in their career centers, with 22,000 of those people finding new jobs or starting a business.
How to donate
Here is your chance to help. Donate to your local Goodwill of North Georgia — it’s never been easier. With 71 retail stores and 45 attended donation centers open seven days a week, you can drop off items whenever it’s convenient during business hours.
How to donate: Gather your gently used items and visit your closest location. Donors can stay in their car and complete the entire donation in minutes. For those who live in places like high-rise buildings where drop-offs can be more difficult, Goodwill of North Georgia partners with ReSupply which offers pick-up services for a fee.
To find your nearest location or check what items Goodwill of North Georgia accepts, visit goodwillng.org, where you can also log your donations digitally and calculate your sustainability impact.
Lend a helping hand this spring
This spring, consider donating items you no longer need and other gently used goods to Goodwill of North Georgia.
Decluttering your home while diverting items from local landfills is a sustainability process that benefits everyone. Every donation helps fund job education and training for citizens of North Georgia, creating meaningful impact for both the planet and the people right here in our community.
This story is sponsored by Goodwill of North Georgia
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