Many Bay Area residents are using shelter in place orders as an opportunity to their spring cleaning. But that has created a problem for Goodwill, as people are continuing to drop off donations outside Goodwill stores even though the stores are closed.
Outside one Goodwill store in Concord there were piles of clothes, toys and other household items Tuesday. Officials say they have even received old appliances during the pandemic.
“(People have) dumped things at the donation sites when there’s no one there,” says William Rogers, CEO of Goodwill in San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties. Because Goodwill is considered non-essential, both stores and donation sites have been closed for weeks.
“We’re really asking people to hold on to those donations so that we don’t create another hazard in the street, but also so those donations go to what they were intended to go to,” says Rogers. “What this means is that our folks are having to go out and it’s expensive - because it’s operating the trucks, the people, getting things back to the warehouse.”
Rogers says some donations have even had to be thrown out, and the additional costs are putting a burden on the nonprofit at a time when money is tight.
“We’re suggesting that if you can, hold on to those items and just tuck them away,” says Rogers. But there are other ways to help people in need. “During this time that you’re not able to make that material donation, we would love it if folks would go to our website and consider a financial contribution.”