GiveNKind Hits $2 Million Mark in Donated Goods to Nonprofits

GiveNKind, a Buffalo Grove-based nonprofit, has reached the major milestone of redistributing $2 million in donated goods to nonprofits across the country.

"We are proud to provide a community of giving, where individuals and corporations can donate items that are going unused, or even into the trash, which we then pass on to nonprofits who can put them to use," said Emily Petway, founder and president of GiveNKind. "Donors can feel confident they are making a real impact on organizations across the nonprofit sector."

GiveNKind functions as a broker by assisting companies that are looking to offload canceled orders, surplus and other unused items and goods in a socially and environmentally responsible way. In addition to new, gently used items are also accepted. To receive a donation, organizations must be a 501(c)3 tax-exempt charity registered with GiveNKind. Currently, there are more than 200 registered nonprofits, ranging from the Lake County YWCA to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.

"GiveNKind offers this free service with an all-volunteer staff by leveraging monetary donations. For every $1 donated to GiveNKind, we can place $80 of in-kind goods with nonprofits who need them," Petway said.

Donations can vary greatly. Examples include $200,000 in socks that were on their way to a landfill due to slight imperfections, which ultimately reached children in foster care, group homes, and shelters through the nonprofit Fill a Heart 4 Kids. Chicago-based logistics start-up, ShopBob, donated $390,000 in brand-new sports apparel that was then given to Social Works, the nonprofit founded by Chance the Rapper. Homeless individuals received the apparel during Taste for the Homeless, a day of fun and community for this often-isolated population.

GiveNKind was founded in 2012 and opened its first storage space in November of 2018. Just 18 months later, it required a substantially larger space for growing donations, which is when it moved to its first warehouse and current headquarters in Buffalo Grove.

The nonprofit serves the Chicago metropolitan area, with a second chapter in Carlisle-Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Through these two chapters, charities in California, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Illinois are served.

Volunteers are at the very heart of GiveNKind, including Buffalo Grove resident Sherry Hoesly who says she started volunteering after learning of the impact GiveNKind has on so many nonprofits and populations in need of resources.

"I've been donating my time to GiveNKind for some time now and I feel gratified to know how far and wide the reach of my work extends," Hoesly said.

GiveNKind is always looking for volunteers in the Chicago area who can assist the organization at its Buffalo Grove warehouse, as well as from across the country who can work remotely connecting donated items with nonprofits. For more information, visit givenkind.org or call 847-802-8977.