Is it right for people to rummage through goodwill?

Those donations do nothing for the poor, all they do is line the pockets of the BUSINESS called Good Will - the goodwill is from the donaters not the store. They get all their goods donated, they probably get a reduced lease on the building because of the common misconception that they are a charitable institute. They mark the prices rather high on their items for them being used and hardly no overhead - they do not help the poor in this manner. They do not provide vouchers for the destitute. The salvation army and some other church sponsored thrift shops do contribute to the needs of the poor. all that aside, I do not think it is okay for the woman to rip through the sacks haphazardly - but as far as her taking - on a moral level it is probably stealing from the "goodwill" however, it is likely that those who donated it would not mind her taking - and also believe the misnomer "good will"

I have never seen it but I have heard of it and I think it shameful at the least and possibly criminal at the worst! If she can afford a 2007 vehicle she can afford clothes and such. If she can not she needs to get a cheaper car. One thing I have found that is worse is the volunteers working at such organizations who go through the stuff and keep the best for friends or family! There was a small town goodwill near us and that is what a couple of the women would do!

It is not right, it is theft and in this case destruction of property. Once items have been placed in these containers; they belong to goodwill. In my town, they do not have containers that you can leave things in. They have specific hours that you can drop off things at the shops OR they will actually come to you and pick the donated items up at no change. If someone is so poor that they cannot afford to pay the small price that Goodwill and other organizations charge; we do have organizations who give people free clothes and food and there is freecycle. Also, some stores policies will not allow them to donate unsold clothes or shoes to a charity; so they put it in the stores dumpsters. Dumpster diving is not illegal in most places and some of our homeless citizens have replaced their shoes by visiting the shoe store dumpsters on a regualr basis. If I had seen that woman; I would have notified the police. If she was not poor; maybe some jail time would have taught her a lesson; and, if she was poor, most police have contacts with the local charities and social services and they could have helped her.

Oh that's not nice. I haven't witnessed anything like that. She really is greedy if she's rummaging on poor peoples donations and in your description on her she doesn't look poor to me at all. I don't see anything wrong on your feelings towards her...I think it's just right for anyone to feel that way.

It's wrong. It's a donation and it's stealing. I've lived in my car and needed donations and gotten them the right way. I swallowed my pride, filled out the paperwork and was given donations and or vouchers for what my family needed. Yes, places like the Salvation Army charge for some of those donations, but how else would they pay for those vouchers, food and other things that they give? I worked at Motel 6 for a while and when a family had something come up (eviction issues, flooding issues or whatever) the Salvation Army would come down with the family and pay their bill for a night or two so they had a roof over their heads until they could work something more perminant out. They also help people pay their utilities and such. Paying for the donations, or donating to the bell ringers, helps out in so many different ways that a lot of people don't even know about. Once something has been given to the Salvation Army, or any church or donation center, it belongs to them. Period. What they decide to do with it is up to them. If they want to give it away, they can do that, but they get to decide who to give it to, not some random person who picks it up themselves because they decide they need it more than the next person. You pull up in your car and take a bag of clothes because your children need them. Okay, well the people who were going to get those clothes might not even have a car to keep their children warm in to come and get the clothes in the first place. I've lived in my car, and it sucked, but at least I had a car to live in. Some of the people that we saw that winter didn't even have that. Those that take from those bins without donating or asking permission first need to remember that when they think they need something. There is always someone else out there who may need it more. Just my two cents.

I live 2 blocks from a Goodwill store and many times when I'm going to the store and have to walk right by it there are people going through the bags that have been left in front after closing hours or before they open. They always seem to have the best cars don't they? lol....One or two times I've made a remark in passing but if you knew my neighborhood you would know why I don't come out and say anything!

Based on your description my first thought was maybe she had donated a bunch of stuff the night before then realized something that wasn't supposed to get donated got put in the bags. Maybe she was looking for something specific. I donated a bunch of stuff once and then afterwards my kids realized something they really wanted had got put in the bags. I felt bad but didn't go look through the donation box to get it back. I told them they needed to keep their prized possessions picked up or they would get thrown away.

There is a drop off box near the supermarket where I shop. Sometimes the bin is full and people leave bags beside it. What upsets me is to pass by there in the morning and see the bags torn open and clothes and other items strewn all over the place. Sometimes it is raining or snowing and the items which were perfectly good before are now caked with mud and wet. I think people who do this sort of thing are very selfish.

If I am no mistaken, it is illegal to do this. This is not the property of the people who dropped it off, but the people that the bin belongs to like Goodwill. I think distruction of property and theft work their way into it somehow. I have heard of things like this, but never personally witnessed it going on.

It's stealing, plain and simple. Considering there are people who really depend on those donations, it was wrong. You did the right thing, even if she really did need those things, (you never know, maybe her or her husband just went through a job loss) she should have gone through the proper channels for help.

you would be surprised at how often that happens, my mother worked for the Salvation Army and did her best to help those in need, the peticular store had such a problem with poachers that they had to fence in the donation boxes to keep people from driving up and poaching when the store was closed.