May 26, 2020 – Goodwill of the Heartland will open its three Illinois retail locations for DONATION ACCEPTANCE ONLY on Friday, May 29th. Included are the stores in Geneseo, Rock Island and Moline. These three stores will then open to shoppers on Monday, June 1st. Hours of operation for donating and shopping will be reduced to Monday – Saturday from 11 am – 6 pm and Sunday from 12 pm – 5 pm until further notice.
The nonprofit retailer re-opened most of its Iowa stores mid-May and is expecting a similar response when the Illinois stores re-open – a pent-up flow of donations. Vice President of Marketing Mindy Kayser said, “We know that people have been using their extra time at home to do lots or cleaning and organizing and they have donations packed and waiting for us. Opening up a few days just for donation acceptance will allow our employees to work through the expected surge and to get our stores re-stocked.”
Goodwill is instituting a no-contact donation drop-off procedure. Donors are asked to pre-sort their donations by clothing and non-clothing items in advance and to deposit them directly into large gaylord boxes staged in the donation drive through lanes at the stores. Goodwill will quarantine all donations before processing them for the sales floor.
When stores re-open, shoppers will notice new safety measures in place there too.
- Face masks will be required of all employees and shoppers.
- Plexiglass guards will be installed at cash registers.
- Limits will be placed on the number of shoppers allowed in at a time.
- Floor tape will designate places for customers to stand (6 feet apart) in line while waiting to check out.
- Dressing rooms will be closed.
- Drinking fountains will be turned off.
- Cleaning and disinfecting public and employee areas will take place regularly throughout the day.
- Greeters will be stationed at the front entrance to sanitize carts, welcome shoppers and explain new safety protocols.
The Goodwill of the Heartland Iowa stores that re-opened earlier in May include three Cedar Rapids locations, Marion, Iowa City, Coralville, Washington, Muscatine, Bettendorf, Davenport, Burlington and Clinton. Stores in Keokuk and Fairfield, Iowa will remain closed until further notice.
For more information and updates as they occur, please follow Goodwill of the Heartland on social media and visit www.goodwillheartland.org
About Goodwill of the Heartland
The mission of Goodwill of the Heartland is to advance the social and economic well-being of people who experience barriers to independence. Goodwill offers life and job skill development, work experience, job placement assistance, day habilitation, supported community living, workforce services to employers and contract manufacturing, assembly and packaging. In 2019, Goodwill provided more than 20,000 services to people with barriers in its 19-county service area. For more information, including retail, donation and service locations, please visit www.goodwillheartland.org or call toll free 1-866-466-7881.
Mindy Kayser
Vice President of Marketing
Direct Line: 319.248.4632
Goodwill of the Heartland
1410 S 1st Ave. – Iowa City, IA 52240-6038
Phone: 866.466.7881 Fax: 319.337.7369