Christmas is such an enchanting time of year. Your stockings are hung by the chimney with care, sleigh bells ring, the snow is glistening. Families are brought together from near and far. For the most part, everyone is filled with the yuletide cheer (unless you are out doing some last-minute Christmas shopping, then it can be more like the Grinch who stole Christmas). Most of us, however, are filled with the spirit of Christmas and do what we can to think outside ourselves and give back to our community.
This year, the spirit of Christmas can stay with you all year long and thanks to the partnership between Goodwill and Give Back Box, it is even easier. You can prepare your house for a fresh start in the new year and give back to your community. Thanks to Goodwill you can fulfill all of these goals. Not only can you shop for your favorite outfits, but you can also make a difference in the lives of people in your community by donating to Goodwill. Thanks to the job training programs made possible by donations of clothes and household items, Goodwill helped place more than 312,000 in jobs in the United States and Canada in 2015 — that’s one person finding a job every 23 seconds of every business day. So you’re literally donating your stuff AND helping to create jobs.
You can even calculate how much your donation helps your local community by using Goodwill’s donation impact calculator, a feature available within the Goodwill Locator App and at Goodwill.org (click “Explore Our Map” on the homepage to access the calculator). Simply input the items you’re donating to calculate the number of hours of career counseling, on-the-job training, résumé preparation, financial planning classes, and other services you’ve helped provide people facing challenges finding employment.
It is such a great feeling knowing that you can easily give back to your community helping others year-round and get rid of some of those outdated items you will never wear again. Hey, you can even find some of the latest styles at Goodwill. Out with the old and in with the new for you fashions.
Did you know that many major retailers will send your purchase in a Give Back Box? This will enable you to donate items to your local Goodwill at no cost to you. This program gives every cardboard box a second life to help people in need. Visit GiveBackBox.com for more information. What’s even better, you can use any cardboard box, just fill it up, go to GiveBackBox.com and print a label to send it your gently used stuff to Goodwill.
Let’s keep that Christmas magic going all year. Share your Goodwill finds and fashions, or better yet, show us your “Reverse Haul” send a video or photo that shares what you plan to donate using the hashtag #DonateStuffCreateJobs. Share videos or picture(s) of the items you plan to donate and use the donation impact calculator to let the world know how many hours of on-the-job training you are creating with your used stuff — stuff that doesn’t help anyone when it’s in the back of your closet or under your bed.
I can’t think of a better way to start the new year!
About Melissa