I have never done this before, but now I am going off on a rant. There is a Thai proverb that says “Confusion is a chicken with shattered eyes.” Watch this video of me picking up the pieces and clearing the air. Thank you for letting me get this off my chest. No chickens were harmed in the making of this video. 😉
(Click here to watch on YouTube if you can’t see the embedded player. Or watch the video at http://bit.ly/tcdrant.)
Transcript:
Hi. I’m Lorie Marrero, creator of The Clutter Diet Book and on-line program, and my viewers, I have a challenge for you today to watch all the way through to the end of this video, because I’m doing something I have never done, and that is, I’m going on a bit of a rant. So I would appreciate you humoring me through my rant and hopefully you will learn something.
I just did a survey of my audience and I received over 650 responses. I read every single one of them and through the survey I received a lot of questions and comments about my relationship with Goodwill. So, to start with a disclaimer, my opinion is the only thing being shared here today. Goodwill has no idea that I’m filming this video. They have certainly not asked me to do it. They certainly haven’t told me what to say. This is my opinion, my experiences that I’m sharing with you.
As of the filming of this video I have served for five years in the role of spokesperson for Goodwill and I do not get paid. I am serving pro bono as a spokesperson because I believe in the mission of connecting people to work. And it’s a match made in heaven. I talk about organizing closets all the time, and I get to tell people why Goodwill is a smart and responsible choice for taking their donatable items so that they can help their community and their planet and everybody wins.
So, this is a huge pleasure in my life, and it’s something I enjoy doing. A lot of people have in this role been pointing things about to me about Goodwill, asking me questions about Goodwill. Certainly, this was borne out in the survey. One thing that comes up a lot is people asking me if I have special clothing saved out for me from Goodwill stores for me to wear in my videos. I do wear Goodwill clothing in every video, and I want you to know that I shop anonymously in my local Goodwill, having my own thrift store experience, I pay for the clothes with my own money, I find them myself, nobody has any idea that I have been in the store or anything like that. So no, nobody dresses me for the videos or makes sure that I have special designer things. I guess I’m just good at picking out things in my local Goodwill. But I’m really proud of that, so I want you to know that.
Secondly, I do get this a lot – and I’ve printed it out here – but mostly this is circulated on the Internet. It’s called “Think Before You Donate.” And there are other things like it. This one mentions Goodwill, it also mentions United Way, March of Dimes, Red Cross, and Unicef. It’s stamped with a “FALSE” across it, because it is patently false. This mentions that the CEO of Goodwill, and they say “and owner,” which is not accurate, is someone named Mark and that it is a for-profit business, and that is absolutely false. So over these five years, I have been privileged to get to know the leadership at Goodwill, including the top leadership, and the CEO of Goodwill is a friend of mine at this point. His name is Jim Gibbons, not Mark something. Here’s a picture of us together here on the screen. He is the first blind graduate of Harvard Business School. He has inspired many people running this international organization with a disability. And that’s great, because we serve people with disabilities. So, I really appreciate that, and I really appreciate Jim and all the leaders. So, I really don’t like it when I see this thing passed around. There is a way to check this out. I’m putting the URL on the screen for you. Please do check this out before you post anything like this in social media. You’re not only doing a disservice to the charities that are mentioned here that are being spread falsehoods about, but you also are doing a disservice to the people who are reading your post who are learning something that isn’t true. So please check that out.
Also, I hear about people’s individual bad experiences with Goodwills of various types, you know. I would like to point out that if you’ve ever gone to Target, or Walmart, or any other large chain store – for example if you’ve had a bad experience with one cashier or one service person in those stores – does that mean that the entire company is a bad company? Of course not. If one Target Store, or one Dollar Store, or, one any kind of store closes, does that mean that the entire organization is a bad organization? Of course not. There is always going to be the one person, the one store, the one experience, the one person that had a bad day, or whatever, that happens. There are, as of this filming, I believe 164 different Goodwill member agencies around North America, meaning that your local Goodwill may vary. So if you do not have a good experience, I apologize for that, but there is just going to be some of that in any kind of organization. So, I stand by Goodwill with all my heart. I appreciate your sharing that with me.
I do want to point out that through the time I’ve been working with Goodwill that the percentage has varied from about 82% to 84%. I believe currently it is 84% of the revenue directly goes to the mission of helping people find work. So, I would like to challenge you to ask the charity that you’re going to donate to what percentage of the revenue goes directly to their mission. Hopefully they can provide you with that information, but that’s a number that I am very proud to stand behind.
Also, I want to point out that I’m aware that there are challenges and controversies around employing people with disabilities. And there are varied opinions about that. I have formed my own opinion about that. That makes me very comfortable to serve Goodwill as a spokesperson. I have visited dozens of Goodwills around the country, I’ve met the leaders, I have met the program participants, I have met the supervisors of the program participants, and I have met the families that are involved in some cases. I am very happy with what I see. I see a lot of happy people and a lot of really good situations.
So thank you for sharing your opinions with me. I will continue to comment on those if I need to. But hopefully this video has helped a little bit. I really appreciate your listening all the way to the end to my rant, and I appreciate your support of Goodwill. Please donate and shop, and I hope that you will find this a lot more helpful than some of things you find out on the Internet.
Thank you so much for watching, and may you always be happy and grateful for having more than enough.
You may have been searching for where to donate or why should I donate to Goodwill?
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