Salvation Army donations roll in before year's end
CHICAGO (WLS) -- The season of giving also means giving back and now that the gift exchange is over, many people are finding overflowing closets and plenty of other clutter.
Those who decide to donate some of those items to Goodwill or the Salvation Army can see the impact and there is another reason why you should donate before 2015.
Donations are rolling in Friday at the Salvation Army Store in Lincoln Park. Containers, dozens of them, are packed.
"I still get a little choked up about it sometimes, it's emotional," said store manager Demetrius Mabry.
Emotional because every donation that comes in helps someone like Mabry.
"I was a drug addict," Mabry said. "I dabbled in a little bit of marijuana to heroin, pretty much anything, squatting from house here to there. It was pretty bad."
Mabry joined the Salvation Army's rehab program five years ago and now leads more than 50 people at the store on North Clybourn. Donors believe in the benefits.
"I believe that we, as a society, need to help," said David Huck. "The more that we individually can do the better it is for our society."
There is a tax deadline for donating this year.
"Everyone is trying to get that tax deduction before the end of the year and clean house," said donor Chad Wells. "It's giving around the holidays. It always makes you feel good."
It's a way to help others, either by doing a little shopping or, perhaps, a lot.
"If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be here," said Salvation Army worker Harold Maglente.
Each item donated in the store isn't just an item.
"Every donation counts, every last one of them. No matter how small you think it is, it can be a life-changing something for somebody else," Mabry said.
The Salvation Army store on Clybourn expects to have more than 1,000 donors just on New Year's Eve day, generally their busiest day of the year because of the tax deduction.
The Salvation Army accepts everything that is lightly used and ask that no donations be harmful to people or the environment.
