Shopping at Goodwill creates

 jobs, helps earth’s greening

By Willie Jose

While I was at Goodwill thrift store one afternoon this month, I saw an elderly woman most probably in her 60s sorting through her cartloads of used clothes and as she was doing this, momentarily her eyes were also taking a fancy at one the paintings there. Two old men, maybe in their 50s were rummaging the racks filled with   old long-playing albums; a young woman was at one corner busily sorting clothes and probably doing some last-minute checking to insure that these stuffs were damage-free.

While I was slumped on a sofa leafing through pages of some books, I saw a young woman holding her three-year-old girl as she was pushing her cart full of various goods. And another young woman was tirelessly browsing racks of women’s clothing and at one time, she was putting the pants around her neck—maybe that’s her way of sizing up the pants’ size if it could fit her.

Seeing these young and old people    sorting out and buying some new and slightly used clothing, CDs, radios, computers, books, home décor, housewares, shoes, bags, et cetera is an ordinary, daily going-on at Goodwill thrift store on Eglinton.

 Somewhere in the store, I read a poster that says, “ I am not just a stack of books, and I can change lives”. Well, that’s true, these books on the shelves are not only for leisure reading but also for educating and transforming people’s lives -- and most especially if they have taken a little of it into their lives. And these books’ costs are really very cheap when compared with their original prices; maybe it would cost you just a fraction of their original costs.

From time to time, one can get some brand new items that probably have not been used by their owners; if one has the patience to browse around the store, who knows, he could find some treasures buried in the piles of these used stuffs.

Donating and shopping at Goodwill give shoppers a chance to hunt for some bargains and also create   jobs for some people with disabilities—and most importantly, they could have a share in the greening of the environment. Also, it’s a good way of recycling these stuffs, thus keeping these used stuffs out of landfills.

Since all purchases at Goodwill are exempt from HST, so one could really stretch his budget by looking for bargains in the store. Patronizing this thrift store is tantamount to indirectly helping people find jobs. This thrift shop has been   creating jobs for people having difficulty looking for work because of some disabilities and extending help to   people   facing barriers to employment such as those who are chronically unemployed youths at risk and the newly arrived immigrants.

 Goodwill provides these people with paid, on-the-job experience and some transferable skills, thereby making    them productive citizens.

Aside from the stream of different people going to Goodwill to hunt for some bargains, from time to time, people could be   seen unloading their used stuffs from their vehicles and donating these reusable items.

 Of course, donating and buying at Goodwill is one way showing our generosity; it’s also a good and practical way to clear out our clutter. Some people might have outlived the usefulness of these used items, but come to think of the beauty and the practicality of giving these discards a brand new life at the hands of the new owners.

While I was doing the treasure-hunting myself, I couldn’t help thinking on the former “ life” of these discarded, slightly- used stuffs, I wish they could talk to tell us their own “ life stories” on how they’ve ended up at Goodwill.  Certainly, these old and discarded stuffs have lots of memories to share with us.

Possibly, this    antique home décor has been prominently displaced in the living room; and these stereo-components, TVs, computers and CDs could have been the prized possessions of their former owners—and in taking good care of them, they would often dusting them off, not even allowing some dirt to settle on their gadgets.

Maybe the people who have donated these new and other slightly- used items to Goodwill would just want to de-clutter their homes, clearing out their closets of discards; possibly, these items’ previous owners have already died and their surviving families have decided to donate their dead loved ones’ belongings instead of throwing these stuffs away.  Or, some people could have decided to downsize and simplify their lives, thereby donating their surplus to thrift shops.

Whatever reason for donating these second-hand items to Goodwill, one thing is clear--our material possessions will certainly outlive us—and we cannot take along with us anything   when the time comes for us to go and say goodbye to this life.

Let’s all take real comfort from reflecting on God’s Word, The Bible-- “ 15 And he went on to say to them all, “Watch out and guard yourselves from every kind of greed; because your true life is not made up of the things you own, no matter how rich you may be.”16 Then Jesus told them this parable: “There was once a rich man who had land which bore good crops. 17 He began to think to himself, ‘I don't have a place to keep all my crops. What can I do? 18 This is what I will do,’ he told himself; ‘I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, where I will store the grain and all my other goods. 19 Then I will say to myself, Lucky man! You have all the good things you need for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself!’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night you will have to give up your life; then who will get all these things you have kept for yourself?’”21 And Jesus concluded, “This is how it is with those who pile up riches for themselves but are not rich in God's sight.”—Luke 12:15-20 (Good News Bible, Today’s English Version)

(Williejose1@gmail.com)