Hi My Name is Mark Collecting Clothing for Houston

just bagged up some clothes from my closet I was gonna put in a garage sale/give to goodwill. this sounds like a better option for them.

 

Props to Dylan/Mark/Skye for drawing attention to such a great cause, going to do this when I get home later today.

 

This is awesome. Donate your stuff to causes like these, not goodwill, they're a terrible company.

 

That's sweet. Still waiting for another podcast.

 

Please explain that opinion more

 

I worked for the Columbia Willamette district in the north west for 9 years. They flaunt the fact that they started by and continue to hire handicapped workers, however that's not quite how it is anymore. They have a "job connection" service in many locations now that do not at all help handicapped people, but people who are just down and out. Not that I don't condone that because I think that's great, but the way they market themselves is completely false. They actually stopped their handicapped worker program and no longer employ them in that particular district. They also paid them by the piece, and sent the ones who couldn't do enough for them back to the program training center. They've completely abandoned the non-profit ideals, and are 100% for profit, building new and nice superstores all around. Not to mention, their management teams are horrendous, their HR team is completely useless, and their CEO has gotten flamed by the BBB several times for taking Wall Street sized tax breaks and bonuses. The whole thing has become very shammy. They price things outrageously high and as an employee you could literally get reprimanded if you called it a second-hand or thrift store. They are making sure they're seen as a retail store and their pricing reflects that. Salvation Army isn't much better, I always suggest people donate to other causes or non-profits in their area because many more exist that do a lot more good than goodwill does.

 

Hmm, thanks. I also used to work for Goodwill but in a different district/part of the country. My experiences were quite contrary, and I have good things to say about the stores I worked with. I definitely recognize that districts are managed independently (even the Goodwill stores in Wisconsin are run by different folks than the Goodwill stores in Minnesota) and with that, leadership/values/integrity will vary across the board.

In any event, I agree that folks should consider a variety of different organizations and groups to donate to or volunteer with. I would hesitate to turn people away from donating items to Goodwill all together, though.

 

My district in particular is pretty bad. I do think the Midwest and east ones are at least run a little better!