New health hazard: Donations, trash still left at Goodwill stores closed for COVID-19
Saying the donations are presenting a health hazard, Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont officials pleaded with the public this week to stop leaving boxes of goods outside their Charlotte area retail stores and other drop-off locations.
The Charlotte-area stores are temporarily closed in response to the new coronavirus pandemic.
But people are still dumping boxes filled with clothes and other donations, along with trash, overturned chairs and other furniture outside some locations.
In pleading with the public to stop dropping off items, Goodwill officials on Monday released photos of trash piling up outside locations in Charlotte, Gastonia, Rock Hill and elsewhere.
“As much as we love to accept donations to support our mission, we can’t take them right now,” Goodwill President & CEO Chris Jackson said in a statement. “People are dropping things off and it is not only a health hazard — but the cost to clean this up redirects funds away from our mission, which we know is especially important right now as people are losing their jobs.
“We are asking people to organize their items at home and have them ready to donate when we reopen.”
Last Thursday, Goodwill closed its retail stores and donation centers in the Carolinas for three weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
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Their stores are in eight counties in the greater Charlotte area: Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, Union, Lancaster, S.C. and York, S.C.