Goodwill Opens Its First Donation Center on Anna Maria Island...
Got stuff you don't need or want any more and would like to see it go to someone that can use it?
Then take it to the new Goodwill that is opening on October 1st in Bradenton Beach.
As Reported By The Anna Maria Island Sun:
If you’ve got some unwanted items around your home and you don’t want to go through the hassle of a garage sale, there will soon be an answer and it’s one that will help other people get a hand up.
Goodwill is opening its first donation center on Anna Maria Island on Oct. 1 at 3614 East Bay Drive, next to Ocean Star restaurant.
Donations of usable good and clothing can be dropped off seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Those who can’t get those items to the new center can call 351-8946 for home pickup.
This new center adds to the local economy, according to Goodwill Manasota Public Relations and Marketing Manager, LuAnne Kirschner.
“It is projected to serve 10,000 people annually and it adds three jobs,” she said. “Its principal purpose is to make it convenient and it is part of our green initiative to have a center within seven minutes of donors.”
This center is the third one opened by Goodwill in the two-county territory this year and it is part of a much larger effort to improve the lives of people
“Goodwill has eight different missions,” Kirschner said. “One thing we do is to help people find jobs both at Goodwill and with other businesses.”
Goodwill calls itself the “Hand up” organization because it helps people improve their lives not with a hand out, but with a hand helping them go up. Kirschner said.
“We employ people that others won’t because of handicaps, past work histories or records,” she said.
The other missions are Supported Jobs Plus, providing long-term supported employment to individuals with physical, developmental and psychiatric disabilities; and Goodwillworks, to provide employment for welfare recipients, single parents, recent immigrants, high school dropouts and other with a history of chronic unemployment.
Its Job Connection mission provides job placement outside Goodwill; Goodhomes builds and develops affordable homes through community partnerships; Beneva Oaks Apartments offers barrier-free living for people with physical disabilities and low income; HomeBuyers’ Club is a HUD-certified housing counseling agency; and GoodNeighbor Connection provides human-service programs to meet the needs of the community through alliances with local volunteer groups.
The recession has changed Goodwill’s focus as far as donations and sales. Kirschner said donations are down and sales are up as people who are living on reduced incomes save more of what they would normally donate and others shop at Goodwill instead of department stores.
Kirschner said that employees look forward to meeting and serving their new neighbors on the Island.
“Come on in and drop off your donation and say hi,” she said. “We hope to get to know you.”
The phone number at the new donation center is 778-1082.
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