“Goodwill is the best thrift store of 2023,” the survey says.

“In a random survey of 100 Morton East students, 89 selected Goodwill as their best thrift store.”

“But first, we need to know the background of Goodwill. On a website called goodwillpeo.org, it says, ‘The name can be deceiving, but the mission is straightforward: supporting individuals and families who are working to better their lives.’ That’s what Goodwill of Central Illinois is all about. Established in 1934, the non-profit organization covers 24 counties in Illinois, but that requires some explanation. Goodwill of Central Illinois’ territory was established years ago but does not include Bloomington/Normal and only goes as far south as Macomb and as far north as Minooka. So, while Central Illinois is in the name, not all Central Illinois is included.” “Each Goodwill, throughout the world, is operated independently and is governed by a board of directors. No one owns Goodwill, contrary to what you might read on the Internet. Goodwill Industries International is a support organization for the independently operated Goodwills throughout the world. Goodwill of Central Illinois is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that uses the funds generated by the sale of donated goods to supply a litany of free services. One of these services is job placement assistance. In 2018, Goodwill of Central Illinois provided or placed 820 people into jobs.” The most interesting thing that I found was that it was not owned by anybody, which I thought it was.

“Back in my days, I used to go to Goodwill, but not anymore. But from what I remember, it was good,” said the mother of Jorge Juarez.

“Sometimes I go there to donate clothes and still do to this day,” said the grandparent of Jorge.

“Now we have the second place, which is the Salvation Army, and for third place, we have Fad2Fresh.”