I’m a regular donator to Goodwill. I’d much rather donate my stuff to them than have a garage sale and try to make a few bucks. I’m also pretty particular about what I donate . . . I don’t donate broken things or clothes that have been too worn by my kiddos. Of course the items aren’t new, but we take care of our stuff and they’re still in really good condition.
So yesterday I went to Goodwill with just a few items . . . 2 fishing poles, a Princess bicycle, and 4 large wooden saw horses from Home Depot.
They refused the saw horses “because they were stained.” Um . . . they were stained because we put a door across them and, well, STAINED IT! So some stain and some white paint were dropped on the top of these nice solid saw horses . . . which rendered them completely useless to Goodwill.
I understand the dude was probably told not to accept stained items in general . . . but these are saw horses! And I must admit I was a bit annoyed.
I was annoyed enough that I drove an extra 10 miles to The ARC . . . who accepted the saw horses with big smiles and big thanks.
The experience at Goodwill reminded me of my last experience with the Salvation Army, which is why I don’t donate to them anymore . . . they were having a winter coat drive. I was a college student with no money, but I did have 2 winter coats: one warm practical one for the cold MN winters and one fun one I bought on clearance as a treat for myself a couple months previous. I went to donate the fun treat coat . . . they refused it because it wasn’t new. They told me thanks, but no thanks, they could only accept new coats with tags on them. Um, seriously?
So in short - the Salvation Army really made me mad, and Goodwill kinda made me mad - and I’m kind of starting to wonder if places asking for donations aren’t getting too picky about some things?
I wished you lived here. This would be a good suggestion to someone.
Our seniors volunter to run a Goodwill type store. They donate about $75,000 to the hospital, for equipment, every year. Sometimes more. They take anything clean and not broken. It has been a wonderful support of our hospital. Good alternative. And there are a lot of minorites, who are able to get some wonderful, usable things.
Sue
You are definitely right…they are way to picky and it is terribly frustrating to me as well. The other thing that is frustrating to me is the Xmas Gift Giving Tree where you choose the name of a less fortunate child/teenager off of a tree and you purchase them a gift. My frustration is that the gifts they are asking for are far more expensive and elaborate than the gifts I was ever able to afford to give my own kids. If in fact they are needy kids, it would seem to me that they would be thrilled with a $20-$40 gift but instead they are asking for gifts in the $100+ range. My position is…at least some of those who are classified as “needy” are not really so “needy” anymore and many of the “needy” are expecting to receive everything free and live a life style comparable to those who work and support themselves. Love…Mom
Yes, the Goodwill is WAY to picky. The DAV is too. I don’t donate broken things and things with missing pieces or giant stains. The list of things they can’t take seems to get longer and longer. Also, what the heck are we suppose to do with the stuff throw it all away and make the land fills filled with stuff that someone “could” have used? It is just crazy. I suppose that is what craigslist is for these days:)