Donations Hold Steady As Goodwill Expands

While times are tough for many nonprofit organizations, Boston-based Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries is expanding, opening new thrift stores, which are popular among price-conscious consumers. Last October, Goodwill stores earned a record $1 million in sales in one month, a 30-percent increase from the previous year.

To find out more about how the economy is affecting Goodwill, we visited President and CEO Joanne Hilferty at the organization’s headquarters in Roxbury.

“These days, cheap is chic”

Inside Morgan Memorial Goodwill’s Roxbury headquarters is a 60,000-square-foot central distribution center, where assorted items pour in from 32 donation sites. There’s bin after yellow bin after yellow bin of clothes. There are bins of books. There are lampshades and household goods. An old Monopoly game. A stairclimber. A box with shoes and mirrors.

“All sorts of things,” says Goodwill President and CEO Joanne Hilferty. “You never know what’s going to come to Goodwill.”