In just a few months, a fledgling Goodwill service that picks up gently used furniture and other household items from donors’ homes has expanded from a single Nashville subdivision into communities across 16 Middle and West Tennessee counties.

The Home Pickup Program, which began a year ago as a small test service in Nashville’s Forest Hills community, is growing rapidly, Donation Specialist Jamie Goss said. Expansion began in late April, and the program now serves parts of 11 Middle Tennessee counties, from Clarksville to Columbia and from Lebanon to Dickson. It also serves parts of five West Tennessee counties around Jackson and Lexington. The program averages 18 to 20 pickups per day. It is a fairly straight-forward service, Goss said.

“Basically, if you can’t get it to us, we’ll come get it from you,” she explained. “The service is intended for people who have large items, like furniture or appliances, they can’t deliver to one of our 80-plus Goodwill Donation Express Centers. But we will also come and get smaller donations like boxes of books or bags of shoes.”

Senior citizens, people who have numerous items to donate and those without automobiles or vehicles big enough to transfer donations are typical of clients who use the service, Goss said. “But it’s also for the average person who wants to get rid of a kitchen table or a couch, for example, and for one reason or another can’t bring those donations to us,” she explained.

Items donated to Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee are sold in the not-for-profit’s retail stores, and the proceeds are used to provide job training and employment opportunities for tens of thousands of people across Middle and West Tennessee.

Goss said donations gathered in the Home Pickup Program are usually delivered to the closest Goodwill store, meaning that they directly benefit the area where the donor lives.

“So when people donate, they’re helping their neighbors,” she said. “Their generosity cycles back into their own community.”

Home pickups are currently scheduled primarily Monday-Friday, though Saturday and Sunday pickups are also conducted in a few communities. Because of high demand for the service, those requesting a donation pickup should do so at least a week in advance.

Read the Fall 2015 edition of The Ambassador – Goodwill’s quarterly magazine which provides readers with stories of events, activities and the inspiring changes Goodwill is making in the lives of others.

About Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc.

For more than 55 years Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee has provided job training and job placement free of charge to people with disabilities or other barriers to employment through the sale of donated items. In 2014, Goodwill served 28,159 people in Middle and West Tennessee and placed 9.558 people in jobs. More information about Goodwill’s Career Solutions, retail stores and donation centers can be obtained online at  www.giveit2goodwill.org or by calling 1-800-545-9231

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