Girl Scout troops collect for charity
Girl Scouts turned out by the hundreds Saturday afternoon to collect donated clothing and other items for Goodwill Industries.
Laura Perkins and her daughter, Brittany, 9, of Lincoln County, drop off items at a Goodwill collection station Saturday.
Photo by Donnie Fetter
Goodwill, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the unemployed develop marketable work skills, held their third annual Good Turn for Goodwill collection throughout the Augusta area.
Items such as clothes, kitchenware, electronics, books and small appliances were brought to collection points in Martinez, Aiken, Augusta, North Augusta, Waynesboro and Edgefield. Later, many of the items will be for sale at the Goodwill Store in the Columbia Square Shopping Center.
"This event helps us get our message out there of helping good people find employment and it acts as a character building activity for CSRA Girl Scouts," said Gordon Renshaw, director of community relations for Goodwill Industries.
"The way this worked was that Girl Scouts all over the CSRA went into their communities dropping off door-hangers as reminders to their neighbors of today's pick-up," Renshaw said. "Then, today, they went back to those locations out in the rain to collect the donations and turn them in to one of our drop-off locations."
When collected, all the viable goods will be placed in the store and sold to the public. Eighty-eight cents of every $1 earned goes toward helping unemployed members of the community find jobs.
Last year, the Girl Scouts collected more than eight tons of goods for Goodwill. With that, Goodwill was able to help find employment for 1,654 people and create $26.7 million in new purchasing power. Nearly 900 Girl Scouts signed up to participate in this year's collection.
"We have a lot of good men and women come through here, some even with college degrees, who have been unable to find work in their chosen field," said Renshaw. "Goodwill trains them with practical business skills that they are able to use in the workplace."
Renshaw said that the local branch of Goodwill Industries is one of the fastest growing in the world.
"Five years ago our annual revenue was $3 million," said Renshaw. "Today, our annual revenue is $18 million. That's remarkable growth and it's all happening in our backyard."