It has now been eight weeks since we closed the doors of our stores, donation sites and program facilities. We miss our community – we miss our customers, our donors, and being able to see our Goodwill team members every day.
The past several months have been unlike anything we’ve ever experienced, and we’re working hard to adapt and evolve so we can continue serving our community through our mission and our retail stores.
As California enters Phase 2 and eases its restrictions, I’d like to share an update on how we’re approaching a reopening.
While our mission and core values remain unchanged by this crisis, there will be several new changes to the way we operate our retail and donation processes.
We do not yet have an official date of when we can and will open our doors, but we do know that our stores and donation sites will not open all at once. We will be employing a phased approach to reopening all our locations. We will also be using this gradual return to work process for our programs and services.
Our first priority remains in keeping our employees and our customers safe, and much preparation and planning has happened, and continues to happen, to ensure we have an environment where our team members and our shoppers feel comfortable and safe.
We’re implementing several new safety and cleaning protocols, including:
- Conducting health screenings for our employees
- Requiring face coverings for employees and customers
- Taking steps to allow for social distancing while shopping in our stores
- Installing Plexiglass sneeze guards at all cashier stations
- Utilizing a contactless donation drop off system
- Holding donations for a 72-hour period
- Increasing the frequency of cleaning and sanitization
- Altering hours of operation
We look forward to welcoming you back to Goodwill of Orange County with safety at heart. We will continue to share updates as reopening dates, in accordance with state and local regulations, solidify.
We are also diligently preparing and ramping up our abilities to execute on our core mission work: helping people with barriers find employment. We know that these services will be needed more than ever as we emerge on the other side of this.
Right now, roughly one in five individuals is unemployed.
Know that we are ready and we are here to serve. We are committed to helping get Orange County back to work.
Thank you for your continued support of Goodwill of Orange County. Hang on to those donations, and we look forward to seeing you again soon!
In service to you and our mission,
Nicole Suydam
President and CEO
Goodwill of Orange County
