Lauren Lawson-Zilai, senior director of public relations for Goodwill, says they are seeing a jump in donations to Goodwill outlets, and that surely must mean that other repurposing organizations are seeing cars pull up everyday and people hopping out to drop off old lamps, Englebert Humperdinck albums, and 8-track players.
She adds that January donations were up more than 32 percent in Washington, D.C, 22 percent in Houston, 20 percent in Roanoke, Virginia, and 16 percent in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“Some of the local Goodwills cite other factors that might have contributed to an increase in donations like warm weather and New Year’s resolutions,” Zilai says.
There are any number of stores like that around here: Savers, Goodwill, and so forth, and while there are questions about how "charitable" some of them are, and where the profits go, to most people, just getting that old ottoman out of the house so Dick Van Dyke won't trip over it again is the whole point.
And don't forget to get a receipt in exchange for your bag of Members Only jackets and OP corduroy shorts and VHS tapes of "Ernest Needs A Kidney," because you may also be entitled to claim a charitable deduction for your donations on your taxes. According to the IRS, and they would be the ones who know, a taxpayer can deduct a fair market value of clothing, household goods, used furniture, shoes, books and whatnot.
The late great talk show host Allan Prell, beloved here and elsewhere as elfin "Uncle Allie, your radio pally" used to say that there were only three stationary bikes in all of Baltimore, and once someone gave up on riding one of them, he or she would drop it off to Goodwill or sell it for $5 at a yard sale, and the cycle would start all over again.
Still, enjoy all that empty space you'll have in your house! Marie Kondo is proud of you.
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