Goodwill stores in Southern California are asking the community to stop dropping off donations at locations while their stores are closed during the coronavirus crisis because they are piling up outside and creating trash.
“These donations quickly become trash when left outside in what is becoming a community safety hazard,” officials said in a news release Tuesday.
Instead residents are being asked to help prepare donations for when stores do reopen by sorting items into categories — like clothing and home goods— so workers can quickly price items and get them ready for sale.
Discarded donations indeed resembled trash outside a closed donation center in Westchester on Tuesday, video showed.
Goodwill retail stores, outlets and donation centers across the southland, including in Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, closed last week in response to concerns over COVID-19.
“We will gratefully accept your donations when we reopen,” the news release reads.
Goodwill will provide updates to shoppers and donors on their website and various social media pages.
