FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 21, 2016

GOODWILL® ENCOURAGES SPRING CLEANING WITH #CLEANSWEEP CAMPAIGN

Spring cleaning is an exciting opportunity to throw open the windows and sort out the clutter. With #CleanSweep, Goodwill Industries International offers expert tips to make this spring the cleanest yet.

Lincoln, NE —Spring cleaning is a great time to sort out the clutter, but it can also be an overwhelming chore that intimidates us out of even getting started. Goodwill Industries International offers these five expert tips to help you not only start, but also conquer, spring cleaning and develop new habits to keep you organized all year long.

Lorie Marrero is a Certified Professional Organizer®, Woman’s Day contributing editor and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Clutter Diet: The Skinny on Organizing Your Home and Taking Control of Your Life and The Home Office Handbook. She also created ClutterDiet.com and is a spokesperson for Goodwill Industries International. We asked Lorie for her top five spring cleaning tips.

1. Have a plan. You don’t want unwanted items cluttering up your home any longer than necessary, so plan to spring clean and take items to Goodwill® on the same day.
2. Start with success. For the first room or space to tackle, choose the one that will give you the biggest bang for your buck—one that will provide immediate daily benefits in efficiency and reduced stress. Is it your home office? Does your car not fit in the garage? Do you struggle to find anything in your closet in the mornings? Zero in on those areas so that when you succeed, you’ll be motivated to tackle another space!
3. Clean slate. Once you’ve chosen your project, clear it out as much as possible and start from scratch. By stripping your shelves bare and restocking them only with items that make you smile, your whole house will become a happy and inspiring place. By donating your unwanted items to Goodwill, you help people find jobs and build their careers.
4. Make it fun! Shake up your spring-cleaning routine with a peppy playlist: after a song finishes playing, move on to the next area of the room. Create a fun contest for the family: challenge everyone to find 10 items to put away and 10 items to donate to Goodwill. This can become a race, with the prize of a traveling trophy (or a hot fudge sundae, if you don’t want any more clutter!) and you can repeat it once a week for the entire month of March. Share your family’s success story with the hashtag #CleanSweep.
5. Be brave. Inherited items may come with guilt and obligation. Are you keeping things you don’t want or need? Instead of keeping the items, take an artistic photograph of them, frame it and display it in your home. Then take the items to Goodwill Industries Serving Southeast Nebraska, Inc. to help you let go and move on. Wouldn’t you rather the items do good by helping people build their employment skills than take up space in your home?

Goodwill stores sells your donations to fund job training and community services, such as computer classes, financial education, job interviewing skills, resume reviews, job transportation, child care and many more. Last year, Goodwill helped more than 318,000 people earn jobs.

“Decluttering your home in the spring provides a fresh start for both the donor and people who need jobs in your community,” Molly Deaver, Communications Specialist of Goodwill Industries Serving Southeast Nebraska said. “We hope tips like these will make spring cleaning more fun for families and more fruitful for Goodwill, which means we can keep providing the critical job training services needed in our communities.”

For more information about what you can donate to Goodwill, and how donated goods and store purchases support our efforts in the local community, visit our website at www.lincolngoodwill.org.

About Goodwill Industries Serving Southeast Nebraska, Inc.
Goodwill Industries Serving Southeast Nebraska, Inc.’s mission is willing workers employed and community resources maximized. Its programs support individuals with barriers to employment by providing services which equip them with the tools needed in order to obtain employment, thus adding to lower unemployment rates and less reliance on government assistance within the Lincoln community. Additionally, Goodwill contributes to ecological balance through massive recycling efforts of unsalable textiles and other products.
The community can support Goodwill all year long by donating their gently-used items, shopping at Goodwill Stores and making tax-deductible financial donations. The sale of donated goods remains the greatest source of funding for programs Goodwill provides. Learn more at www.lincolngoodwill.org.

Contact:
Molly Deaver
Communications Specialist
402-432-2022 ext. 118
molly@lincolngoodwill.org