Goodwill sees good donations in 2016

Donations for some organizations, like the food bank, tend to increase during the Christmas season.

But other groups, like discount stores, see a slight drop in that time period.

Goodwill in Pocatello said donations tend to slow down a little bit during the winter months, mostly because of weather and people being busy for the holidays.

However, Goodwill said 2016 was still a very good year and it received a lot of donations.

“2016 was a really good year for us,” said Kurt DeCoria, manager. “We’re a little light in clothing, which ironically, is one of our biggest categories. But all the other categories have been really good. We really appreciate everybody in the community and we seem to be a destination spot for donations.”

DeCoria said while donations slow a little bit during the winter months, they still get several donations. He said they just get a lot busier in the spring or summer months when people are spring cleaning and getting rid of unused items.

He said, on average, Goodwill receives about 50 to 100 donations per day pretty consistently throughout the year. There are points throughout the spring and summer where that number is much higher.

DeCoria said overall in 2016, Goodwill averaged about 1,800 donations per month.

The store takes anything from books and movies to kitchen appliances to electronics to toys and clothes. DeCoria said there’s really very few items that the store doesn’t take.

TVs, mattresses and hide-a-beds are a few of the big ones DeCoria said Goodwill can’t take. But most anything else goes.

“We pretty much can use everything,” DeCoria said. “I mean, obviously not garbage, but we have ways of either selling or recycling. We do a ton of recycling so we can generally do something to generate some revenues for our programs through most any donations.”

If an item doesn’t sell on the floor, or isn’t good enough to make it in-store at all, it’s recycled. DeCoria said that means it’s sent to other groups, like salvage dealers, to generate revenue for the store.

DeCoria said the most recent data he had from 2014 shows that through its recycling program that year, Goodwill prevented three million pounds worth of donations from going to the landfill. Revenue from recycling goes to help the store and purchase some new items to go alongside the old.

So DeCoria said if you’re not sure about an item, just bring it in and Goodwill can make the determination.

He said it’s rare they get donated items that are completely unusable for them at all. DeCoria said any donations are always helpful and appreciated and they are in need of some right now. He said clothes are one of its biggest needs.

This year, Goodwill is starting a new sale. Staring Jan. 9, it will hold “Dollar Days” on Mondays. Every Monday, selected items will be marked down to a one-dollar price tag. DeCoria said people who bring in donations can also receive a 20-percent discount on their next store purchase.

The Pocatello Goodwill location is located at 441 Yellowstone Avenue.