Mission of Goodwill: How Does Goodwill Help People in Need?

Do you know? I didn’t when I joined Goodwill almost 8 years ago. In one of my first assignments at Goodwill, I spent a full day collecting donations at a Manhattan Greenmarket. I was surprised to hear well-meaning donors tell me that they donated to Goodwill because “we clothed the disabled.” This is a misconception and I corrected that.

A customer recently commented: “Visited your store today. Totally overpriced. $19.99 for used boots? That’s not helping people in need. You want to offer Uggs at 14.99 then please offer other boots at a much lower price so people can afford them… Start helping the people who need help clothing their self and their families.”

We appreciate and welcome comments from all our customers and readers because this gives us an opportunity to clarify misconceptions about the mission of Goodwill NY-NJ. Also, your comments help us continue to provide the best shopping experience to members of our communities.

The mission of Goodwill is to empower individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment to gain independence through the power of work.

How do we do this? We offer training, vocational, and employment services for adults and after-school and mentoring programs for children and youth. We provide services free of charge. Sales proceeds from our stores and public and private funding support our programs.

We are very proud that 92 cents of every dollar earn supports our mission. Last year, we served more than 81,672 people and placed 8,476 individuals in jobs.

Goodwill strives to offer competitive prices for good quality clothing and household items. We encourage residents to re-purpose and re-use. No donations are wasted at Goodwill. And we are grateful to the community for helping Goodwill keep more than 66 million tons of goods out of local landfills last year!

Do you have any questions about Goodwill, its programs or our stores? Please comment below.

Jose Medellin
Dir. Of Communications

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Your purchases support the mission of Goodwill. To get the latest fashion trends and tips and learn about our upcoming promotions, please read our thrift fashion blog A Good Look

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