And between now and November 22, Goodwill is holding a photo contest where they are asking people to mark things they'll eventually donate with the Donate icon, snap a picture and either e-mail it or upload it to the Goodwill Flickr group.



I make several trips to Goodwill each year to donate items including that 11th hour, December 30th trip, along with everyone else in the city for last minute tax deductions! When I see all the bags and boxes of things that need to be sorted out by the staff, I wonder if it’s trash or treasure I’m donating!

Well, by the number of Goodwill retail locations popping up, there are lots of great things being donated. I know because I have found many and I donate to give extended life to things I don’t use or no longer need. And that also means giving many job opportunities for those in need. Store revenues help provide the necessary training for all kinds of jobs in healthcare, IT, retail sales and management, food services, banking, manufacturing and more.

photo © 2007 Terry Ross | more info (via: Wylio)

Last year 1.9 million people were served through employment and training programs and 20.1 million were provided workforce development programs. Goodwill’s revenue was $3.7 billion and 83% of that was used for the programs and services provided. Pretty amazing!

What else is pretty amazing or actually shocking is that despite the donations received, 68 billion pounds of clothing and textiles are still being trashed each year! With that Goodwill has partnered with Levi Strauss & Co. to move forward The Donate Movement to encourage and increase awareness of the power of donating all of which makes a difference in people’s lives, strengthens communities and creates a healthier environment. Levi’s launched “A Care Tag for Our Planet” and was the first major retailer to include messaging on product care tags encouraging people to wash in cold, line dry and donate to Goodwill.

We all know that the universal symbol for recycling reminds us to recycle bottles, paper, cans and more. Now with Goodwill’s Donate icon, this can be the universal reminder to recycle clothing, household items and electronics through responsible donation, helping provide opportunities for others while diverting usable items from landfills.

Check out this handy donation impact calculator, and you can see just what your item can mean in terms of services provided to someone who needs it.

And between now and November 22, Goodwill is holding a photo contest where they are asking people to mark things they'll eventually donate with the Donate icon, snap a picture and either e-mail it or upload it to the Goodwill Flickr group.

photo © 2009 Eric Bartholomew | more info (via: Wylio)

Levis has stepped up and is generously providing a $400 prize pack (including a Levi's denim jacket, a Levi's tote, a denim apron, a Levi's Flip video camera, a $100 Levi's gift certificate and more) for the grand prize winner and $100 Levi's gift certificates for 5 honorable mention winners. The grand prize winner will also have his or her photo shared across Goodwill web sites, in Working! magazine, on the walls of GII's office and converted to a poster for display in retail stores.

You can find all the details and see how to enter at http://donate.goodwill.org/contest/. So get going, snap a photo and donate now!

For more green living tips, info, reviews, giveaways and the original publication of this article, check out Jeanne’s site, TheGreenSamaritan. And don’t forget to connect on Twitter and Facebook.