FILE - Donation coats sit outside on Dec. 22, 2020, in Reading, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images) As we transition into the warm weather months and some opt to spring-clean their homes, purging the closets may be on the to-do list.
Organizations like Goodwill or the Salvation Army are popular places to bring unwanted clothes, which often benefit those with disabilities and disadvantages in local communities.
But just because you’ve dropped off a donation bin full of old shirts and shoes doesn’t mean the items will end up in retail stores to be worn again. RELATED: Old Navy ‘giving women what they want’ – dresses with pocketsWhile Goodwill says it makes "every effort" to sell, repurpose, or recycle donations locally, only about half of the total donated clothes it receives are suitable for its traditional retail stores and ecommerce, the organization told FOX Television Stations.
So what happens to the rest? Here’s how the process works, and how to make sure your donations do the most good:When you say goodbye to your unwanted stuff, donations at Goodwill are first separated into softlines (textiles) and hardlines (everything else), the company said.The donations are then processed by quality. "Extremely high value or rare donations, such as designer, true vintage, or collectors’ items, are set aside for ecommerce," William Parrish, a senior donated goods retail consultant at Goodwill Industries, said in a statement. "Items that meet retail standards are sorted into specific product categories for the sales floor."Goodwill has more than 3,300 retail stores across the U.S.