Manatee Memorial Hospital Foundation Thrift Shop, Goodwill see increases in de-cluttering donations

MANATEE -- To kick off the New Year right, area residents are cleaning out their homes and getting organized for 2016. Local thrift shops are benefiting, as de-cluttering donations have increased in the past few weeks.

Robin Cox, manager of Manatee Memorial Hospital Foundation Thrift Shop, credits their uptick in donations to donors cleaning out unused or unwanted Christmas decorations and preparing for tax season, when consumers make new purchases and turn in deduction receipts from donations.

The most active time of year for thrift stores starts "at the beginning of December; when people were cleaning up their house for company and also right after the first of the year," Cox said. After Christmas is a busy time for thrift shops, too.

"I can't tell you how many trees we have right now," she said. She also noticed an increase in donated clothing and other items replaced by Christmas gifts. Goodwill Manasota has seen similar patterns.

"We definitely see an increase in donations around the end of the year and beginning of the new year," Bob Rosinsky, president and CEO of Goodwill Manasota, said in a statement. "We believe this can probably be attributed to the general growth of philanthropic activities around the holidays as well as people making room in their closets and homes for the holiday gifts they've received."

The increase in donations at area thrift stores also coincides with Get Organized Month in January, a campaign organized by the National Association of Professional Organizers.

Bradenton resident Faith Cooper Lipton is one local who contributed to Goodwill's donations pile.

"It was just a situation like most people; everything had been gathering in the garage and I just needed it out of the house," Cooper Lipton said. When her family needs to donate and clear clutter, they choose to take it to Goodwill Manasota's Manatee Avenue location, conveniently close to their home.

Cooper Lipton enjoys the added benefit of helping out others in the community.

"We know people there need those jobs, and we know people who have benefited from those jobs," Cooper Lipton said. Goodwill Industries operates on a philosophy of giving a "hand up, not a hand out." Funded by mostly its resale store profits, Goodwill provides job training and placement services to job seekers.

Goodwill Manasota's White Glove Service helps people with downsizing, moving or a loss in the family by packing and transporting unwanted items for donation. Donna Evans, who leads the program, said no matter the circumstances, people often need help with such projects.

Kate Brown, a certified professional organizer who operates Sarasota-based company Impact Organizing, knows through her decade of experience the kind of effect some re-organizing and de-cluttering can have on a person's life. Impact Organizing works with clients in both Sarasota and Manatee counties.

"I think organizing your physical environment for many people is the foundation for optimizing time and task management," Brown said. Certified professional organizers must complete 1,500 hours of work with clients before applying to the certification exam.

Brown's clientele is about an even mix of business and residential clients seeking to re-organize spaces, she said. Each project Brown undertakes is tailored to meet a business' or individual's specific goals and almost always includes de-cluttering.

"Ninety-nine percent of the time there was stuff in there that is not going to be organized; it's going to be removed," Brown said. Brown hopes her clients leave with a sense of order in their lives and a new set of tools to stay organized.

"It really helps to have some rules or best practices," Brown said. "We can do something for a client without their participation and educate them when it's a finished product so they can replicate it."

Janelle O'Dea, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7095. Follow her on Twitter@jayohday.

This story was originally published January 11, 2016 at 5:45 PM with the headline "Manatee Memorial Hospital Foundation Thrift Shop, Goodwill see increases in de-cluttering donations ."