Woman Shocked After Seeing Goodwill Employee Trash Donations

Zachary Stieber
By Zachary Stieber
June 7, 2019US News
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Woman Shocked After Seeing Goodwill Employee Trash Donations
A Goodwill store in a file photo. (John Moore/Getty Images)

An Oklahoma woman was stunned when she took clothing to Goodwill to donate but saw an employee dump the clothes in the trash shortly afterward.

Cindy Stanbrough said she took bags of clothes to the Goodwill in Yukon on June 2, expecting the clothes might benefit people looking for cheap clothing.

“I know that there was a lot of infant clothes and toddler clothes that I had available, and kids go through that so fast,” she told KFOR. “There are a lot of people who really needed this stuff, and not thinking in hindsight there was the El Reno victims and things like that, and I just got really angry and frustrated with the situation.”

She was shocked, though, because as she was taking the donations of her vehicle, one of the employees at the store was taking the bags to the dumpster.

“I knew that they get a lot of materials and stuff and donations and that sometimes they take it to other places, but I never thought they would go into the dumpster or anything like that,” she said. “You do this to help people and just knowing that it’s not going to get to the people that need it.”

Goodwill told the broadcaster that the employee who dumped the clothes has been identified and disciplined by the nonprofit.

It said that people taking donations to Goodwill should not think their donations will be thrown into the trash.

“We at Goodwill sincerely regret that one employee’s actions have disregarded our core values and our mission of helping people overcome challenges to employment,” Goodwill said in a statement.

According to Goodwill’s website, the nonprofit accepts a wide range of items for donation, including clothing, jewelry, books, furniture, and electronics.

NTD Photo
A shopper at a Goodwill store in a file photo. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

There is a list of items that Goodwill says it cannot accept.

“It’s hard to say ‘no thank you’ to a donation when those donations help to fund Goodwill programs. However, we do need to refuse some items for being non-recyclable or containing hazardous materials. Other times, the item must be refused because it costs more to transport, repair or refurbish than it can be sold for in our stores. Our donation attendants are trained to know what we can and cannot accept, and will help guide you to other possibilities for donations we cannot use,” it stated.

Those items include CRT televisions and computer monitors, cribs, household chemical products such as paint, automotive hazardous waste such as tires, and large appliances.

Personal care products including shampoo, fragrance items, mattresses, carpet, plumbing fixtures, building materials, recyclables such as glass, and weapons are also not accepted.

Some of the items will be accepted by other places, such as Habitat ReStores.

Reactions

People reacted to the story on Stanbrough’s Facebook page after she shared it with her followers.

“Good job Cindy on bringing this to the attention of Goodwill & the media!” said one.

“I had a terrible experience with them when we tried to donate. I won’t give to them again,” added another.

“Wow! That’s crazy. So glad you let everyone know about that place. Sorry that happened to you! I like to donate to Heart and Hand thrift store on 23rd and council. They help single parents with housing and let them shop for free. It’s in That shopping center by the grocery store,” added another.

“I hate to hear this, but remember every good organization has a few bad employees. Goodwill oftentimes hires people that might otherwise be unemployable, which helps them learn about being a productive member of the workforce. Dealing with their incredibly poor decisions is unfortunately a part of it. Please don’t let this action of one employee reflect poorly on Goodwill as a whole,” added another.

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