Local organizations doing good during the pandemic

Posted April 16, 2020 11:00 pm

Carolyn Dun

A nonprofit in Illinois has a unique proposition that redistributes goods from donors to the nonprofits that need them.

GiveNKind offers a way to collect and warehouse gently-used individual items or large quantities of new items from canceled orders, surplus or abandoned goods. So far, GiveNKind has placed more than $1,300,000 worth of goods with nonprofits.

Community Purse Lake County is a giving circle that combines individual donations into one large grant. GiveNKind received their most recent grant and they were excited to hear of the connections between GiveNKind and some of their other member-nominated nonprofits.

For example, GiveNKind donated items to one of the nonprofits they had nominated at their previous meeting and to all three of the nonprofits nominated at their next meeting.

• New swimsuits, sizes infant to adult XL, were given to the YWCA Lake County for use this summer for special events at pools and for health programs.

• Jump ropes were given to Roberti Community House to start a heart healthy habits program.

• Self-care and cosmetic packages went to The Community Works.

• Dishwashing soap, fabric softener and office furniture were donated to PADS Lake County.

Community Purse Lake County's giving circle provided a grant to GiveNKind for $12,500. The founder of GiveNKind, Emily Petway, described the grant as "transformational," and said the funds will be used to find a larger warehouse space so they can better serve nonprofits.

They will be able to take in more donations, implement an inventory system, and have a larger space for volunteers. GiveNKind has digital ways to connect their donated goods with nonprofits during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For those interested in helping, they have nonprofit partners across the country that are listed on their website. Nonprofits looking to add to this list can email contact@givenkind.org for more details.

To learn more about Community Purse, visit www.communitypurse.org.

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