New Goodwill Donation Center Opens in State College

This story originally appeared in The Centre County Gazette.

A new Goodwill Attended Donation Center has opened its doors at 101 Hawbaker Industrial Drive, State College.

To celebrate, a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house will be held at noon on Tuesday, Sept. 24. During the open house, there will be tours of the new facility and giveaways and refreshments for those in attendance.

The new Attended Donation Center, operated by Goodwill Industries of North Central PA, is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for donations.

“The aim of this new donation center is to make donating easier for the State College community,” a press release stated. “The location and layout should make getting in and out with donations quick and easy for donors. The retail store on Benner Pike will continue to accept donations, while this additional donation location will make donating more convenient for people on the other side of town.”

Rather than offering retail, like the Benner Pike location, the new Attended Donation Center will feature donation processing, online book listings and Mission Services offices.

“The donations in the State College area have been a great addition to our organization for many years,” said Nick Suplizio, vice president of donation procurement, development and transportation, logistics and plant operations. “Adding this Attended Donation Center not only helps meet our mission but gives our donors a much needed extra location to donate items.”

According to a press release, the new donation center is expected to create up to eight jobs, from donation attendants and processors to book listers. Additionally, the new location will have job training opportunities through the Goodwill Mission Services department.

Goodwill NCPA is also looking to prioritize sustainability through the new location.

“Being able to add another location to drop off donations helps donors travel less, which reduces the carbon footprint that is so important to us. We are America’s number one recycler, and we do everything we can to keep items out of the landfill.”

Even more so, the environmental impact is expected to be felt at the Benner Pike location as processing donations at the new location will reduce the amount of items needed to be transferred to headquarters for distribution.

Goodwill NCPA is a nonprofit, with 25 donation centers across the state and five online stores. The organization’s funds go back to Goodwill’s mission and training programs and creating jobs.