Goodwill

Goodwill began in Boston in 1902, when Methodist minister Edgar Helms collected used goods and hired people who needed work to repair and resell them, inventing charity thrift in the process. Today Goodwill Industries International is a network of about 150 autonomous local organizations running more than 4,200 stores across North America. Donated-goods resale, roughly seven billion dollars of it in its best years, funds job training and placement for around two million people annually. It is the biggest engine of textile reuse in our collection, and the easiest place to start shopping secondhand.