This New Year, if you're looking to make some changes for the better, you might want to start by cleaning and organizing your surrounding areas. But if you're not sure where to start, Netflix is a good place. The new series, "Tidying Up With Marie Kondo," shows how you can declutter, by finding what sparks joy in your life.
As beneficial as it is for those changing their lives, thrift stores like Goodwill of Western New York are happy to see the trend, and are using it to their advantage.
"In January, we typically do see an increase in donations because school was out for the holiday, people are tidying up, January is ‘get organized month,’ but the Marie Kondo tidying up effect, we think we're starting to see some of the results of that. We really first noticed it on social media when people were really responding to a tweet we put out that said Marie Kondo is a fictional character created by Goodwill to get me to donate half of my things, and even though that might not be true, we are seeing people come in this first week of January," said Linda Maraszek, the Goodwill of WNY marketing and community relations manager.
People like Sue Elkin of Buffalo, who recently just decluttered her home, says she feels better already.
"I feel…lighter,” she laughed. “Which is what I always say when I get stuff and give it away and you know what, it goes to a good cause, Goodwill is a good cause, it helps my community. Things that I've kept are things that I want, and it makes my life enriched, the things that I've gotten rid of I haven't looked at or used and so they haven't had a place in my life really.”
Those things that might not have meaning for Elkin anymore could be just what shoppers like Kelsey Kaminski of Buffalo are looking for. "It's easily affordable, I'm a student so it's more affordable than going to the mall or ordering online," said Kaminski.
"So what we feel is if you're donating the things that aren't sparking joy in your home, they can spark joy for other people when you donate them. We use the donations to put merchandise in our stores that we sell and the proceeds support the workforce training program that help people find jobs in our community," Maraszek said.
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