Goodwill Near Me

For over 110 years, Goodwill Industries has been enhancing the quality and dignity of life for families, individuals, and communities by removing any barriers to success and opportunity. By helping people in need reach for their dreams, Goodwill helps those in need find their potential through assistance, aid, and the power of work.

Through Goodwill stores, the company takes unwanted clothing, books, household items, furniture, and toys and resells them to help those in need. Are you interested in finding a Goodwill near you? Simply search Goodwill near me on the map below and find the closest Goodwill to your location. Looking for a bit more information on Goodwill Industries? Read on for trivia, facts, and statistics on Goodwill!

Goodwill Near Me – Find it on the Map

Goodwill Near Me – Goodwill Trivia

Who founded Goodwill?

If you’re searching Goodwill near me, then you’re likely pondering the long and storied history of this charitable chain. Goodwill was founded in 1902 by the Reverend Edgar J. Helms, a Methodist minister in Boston. As a social innovator and giver, Helms took it upon himself to collect used household goods and clothing in wealthier areas of the city. Helms then trained and hired the poor to mend and repair those goods. The mended good were then resold or given to those who repaired them, helping to create the brand’s message of “A hand up, not a hand out.”

Many Goodwill stores offer modern store fronts and share space in shopping complexes containing even bigger stores such as Walmart and TJ Maxx. This makes doing good while running errands even easier!

True or False: Goodwill gives unusable clothing to third world relief organizations.

True! As a part of Goodwill’s commitment to eliminate waste while doing good, Goodwill donates stained or unwearable clothing to third world relief agencies. As workers sort items that come in as donations, stained items are placed into “rag” piles. While the clothing is not necessarily used for rags by the relief agencies, it certainly finds itself good home where it is put to a better use.

How many people have been placed into employment by Goodwill?

While searching Goodwill near me, you may be wondering just what all of that donation money has done so far. Aside from helping to serve 37 million people worldwide, that money has also placed 312,000 people into jobs. Goodwill cites having trained individuals for steadfast and growing careers in areas such as banking, IT, and healthcare. Aside from training, Goodwill also helps individuals learn English, acquire additional education, get access to transportation, and find affordable childcare.

True or false: Books are a very low profit item for Goodwill.

True! While books may be good for the soul, they’re not great for the bottom line. Goodwill admits that books are their lowest profit item and has taken to selling many of its donated books on Amazon to turn a larger profit. The funds from books sold on Amazon are given back to the store. What doesn’t sell is ultimately recycled or given to relief agencies throughout the world.

Goodwill Near Me – Goodwill Facts

Connecting with Millennials

If you’re a millennial searching Goodwill Near Me, you’re not alone! As a way to enter the new millennium and attract a new kind of shopper, Goodwill launched an ecommerce website in 1999. The site was the first of its kind, operating as the only nonprofit internet auction site in the US. Five years after its initial launch, the site was still doing well, averaging 13,000 visitors per day. Goodwill pride itself on having brought a whole new kind of shopper into contact with the charity, boasting 100,000 registered buyers and raising more than $15 million. The site still operates to this day, garnering a large degree of funds for the Goodwill company.

Partnership with the FDIC

In a major effort to encourage individuals to become financially responsible, Goodwill formed a partnership with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in 2003 as an attempt to educate donation recipients on the banking system. The training program put into place a Money Smart Curriculum that showed people how to budget, save and even use a checking account. This system has allowed for those receiving help from Goodwill to learn how to use their money in a practical way, thus keeping them from making the same mistakes they may have made in the past. For some low income individuals, money and banking can be a confusing process, especially if they were never exposed to the system before. This can make handling new jobs and allocating income a difficult experience. Through this partnership, individuals receiving aide can start off on the right foot. You can rest assured that while searching Goodwill near me, you’re putting your time and money into a positive change agent.

Goodwill Agencies

There are over 165 independent community based Goodwill Agencies in the United States and Canada as well as 14 affiliates in 13 other countries. Goodwill first took its message international in 1926, when the Goodwill founder took his message overseas, hoping to inspire, impassion, and protect those in need.