As NY Schools Reopen, Goodwill of the Finger Lakes Encourages Community Members to Shop at Goodwill for Affordable Back-to-School Attire and Materials

Students and educators with valid ID get 15% off their purchase on Tuesdays

Organization experienced financial losses during pandemic; needs shoppers and donations

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — As summer comes to an end and New York schools begin to reopen in September, Goodwill of the Finger Lakes welcomes and encourages the Finger Lakes region and communities to shop at Goodwill for back-to-school attire and materials at an affordable price. In full transparency, Goodwill has been an instrumental organization in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has experienced significant financial losses. To be sustainable, Goodwill welcomes all shoppers to visit any of its 14 retail locations across the Finger Lakes region to help the organization continue its mission and impact on the communities it serves.

Every Tuesday, students and educators with a valid ID will get 15% off their purchase.

“When you shop and donate to Goodwill, you are supporting 211/LIFE LINE, our crisis hotline, ABVI’s programs for people who are blind or visually impaired, and 100 other nonprofit organizations through our Good Neighbor program,” newly appointed CEO Jennifer Lake said. “We’ve supported more than 50,000 community members through our 211/LIFE LINE program since the pandemic, coordinated meal deliveries to seniors in partnership with the city of Rochester and collected thousands of masks with the United Way of Greater Rochester through its mask initiative. Now, we are pleading for the community to come back and shop at our amazing Goodwill stores. When you shop at Goodwill, you support more than our 600-person team. You support the entire community and region.”

Goodwill was forced to close all of its retail locations at the start of the pandemic, and was able to begin reopening them in phases in June. Today, all of its stores in the Finger Lakes region are open seven days a week.

“June sales were very strong, but we saw a dip in July,” Lake said. “We’re not keeping it a secret that we need the support: shopping and donations. We’ve worked tirelessly in 2020 and the best way to help us continue our work and impact most immediately is by shopping at our stores. We welcome families who are shopping for back-to-school and anyone wanting to shop on a budget or simply wanting to help a local organization in our community.”

All donations are sorted by a Goodwill team member with PPE and then placed on a three-day hold in each store and donation center. From there, donations are processed and moved to the floor for shopping.

For more information on Goodwill’s retail stores and hours, visit goodwillfingerlakes.org/stores-pages or call 1-800-Goodwill.

ABOUT GOODWILL OF THE FINGER LAKES

A 501(c)(3) charitable organization, Goodwill of the Finger Lakes prepares and empowers people with barriers to independence to be self-sufficient and contribute to their families and communities. Headquartered in Rochester, New York, Goodwill of the Finger Lakes’ mission programs 211/LIFE LINE and ABVI (The Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired) have a very long and successful history of providing services to our region. The organization’s more than 600 individuals use their passion and expertise to find innovative solutions to address pressing social needs. Each year, Goodwill of the Finger Lakes positively impacts the lives of more than 245,000 people. For more information, please visit https://www.goodwillfingerlakes.org/.

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