Michigan Goodwills ‘Begging’ People To Stop Dumping Donations

As Goodwill stores across the state remain closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people are still dumping donations (and trash) at the doors, stirring up pleas to stop.

According to Fox 17 West Michigan, despite signs already posted asking people not to donate as stores are closed, piles of donations and even just plain ol' trash are piling up in front of donation center doors.

One store in the Grand Rapids area, the Fox 17 team found things like walkers, car tires and even a discarded washing machine outside among the piles.

While people are cooped up in their homes due to the "stay home" mandate, it is a great time to do some de-cluttering; though Goodwill of Greater Grand Rapids Chief Marketing Officer Jill Wallace said it is "disheartening" to see people using Goodwill as more of a "dumping ground."

The issue here is not just the fact people should not just be dumping their unwanted items (and trash) for someone to just deal with later, though, as it does pose financial strains on the stores as well.

“Our entire organization is on layoff, all the way up from the CEO, so we don’t have staff to clear those," said Wallace. "We are trying to keep our staff safe and not expose them to what’s going on, so we now have to pay a third party to come in and remove that."

Goodwill is at the point they are "begging" people to stop bringing in donations while they are closed but say they are more than happy to accept them once this all blows over.