Join the Donate Movement by Supporting the Goodwill® and Family Circle Back-to-School Clothing Drive

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Aug 02, 2010, 08:00 ET

ROCKVILLE, Md., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- For the second year in a row, Goodwill Industries International and Family Circle are teaming up for a Back-to-School Clothing Drive. The goal of the drive is to encourage families to donate their gently used clothing to fund support services that help people facing challenges to finding employment become financially stable and support themselves and their families.

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This year's clothing drives launches on Monday, August 2, and ends on Thursday, September 30, 2010. The two organizations are encouraging people to donate their clothing items to any one of Goodwill's 3,500 donation centers across the country or schedule their own donation drive at schools, businesses, or anywhere friends and neighbors gather. The partnership will be featured in Family Circle's September issue, which is dedicated to back-to-school. More information can also be found at http://donate.goodwill.org/familycircle.

"There are environmental and personal benefits of donating," said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. "A donation has tremendous impact to help put people to work and build strong families and communities."

Last year, Family Circle readers helped generate 11 million pounds of clothing donations, far exceeding the original goal of 5 million pounds. Once again, moms and dads can use the clothing drive as a way of teaching their kids that donating can make a real difference in someone's life. Plus, donating also gives clothing a second life by keeping items out of landfills and helping to preserve the environment. The Back-to-School clothing drive will help to support Goodwill's new Donate Movement, a public awareness initiative powered by Goodwill® that inspires consumers and businesses to promote the positive impact donating has on people and the planet.

"Family Circle is happy to partner with Goodwill for the second year in a row for our Back-to-School Clothing Drive," said Family Circle Publisher Diane Papazian. "Family Circle readers are dedicated to getting involved in their communities and giving back. This is a great way to do so."

Find your local Goodwill store or donation center at http://locator.goodwill.org, donate what you no longer need, then calculate the impact of your donation through the Donation Impact Calculator at http://donate.goodwill.org. The calculator will show you how your donated goods become jobs. For example:

One bicycle, one coat and one DVD provide a person with one hour of on-the-job training.
One working computer provides 5.3 hours of career counseling.
Six shirts and two pairs of jeans provide one hour of a job search class.

ABOUT GOODWILL INDUSTRIES INTERNATIONAL

Goodwill Industries International is a network of 166 community-based agencies in the United States and Canada with 14 affiliates in 13 other countries. Goodwill is one of North America's top five most valuable and recognized nonprofit brands as well as a leading social services enterprise (Source: Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100, 2009). Goodwill agencies are innovative and sustainable social enterprises that fund job training programs, employment placement services and other community-based programs by selling donated clothing and household items in more than 2,400 retail stores and online at shopgoodwill.com. Local Goodwill agencies also build revenue and create jobs by contracting with businesses and government to provide a wide range of commercial services, including packaging and assembly, food service preparation, and document imaging and shredding. In 2009, nearly 2 million people in the United States and Canada benefited from Goodwill's career services. Goodwill channels 84 percent of its revenues directly into its programs and services. To find a Goodwill location near you, use the online locator at www.goodwill.org, or call (800) 741-0186. Twitter: @GoodwillIntl. Facebook: GoodwillIntl.

ABOUT FAMILY CIRCLE

Published 15 times a year by Meredith Corporation, with a circulation of 3.8 million and 20 million readers, Family Circle is one of the most widely read monthly magazines in the world. Family Circle provides smart relevant advice, sensible solutions, and inspiration in a voice that encourages and celebrates success in its pages and online at www.familycircle.com. Family Circle has always been committed to women's issues and in 1973 became the first woman's magazine to fully underwrite a professional women's sporting event, The Family Circle Cup, an annual women's tennis tournament held in April in Charleston, S.C., at Family Circle Magazine Stadium.

SOURCE Goodwill Industries International