Goodwill

At 190 South Washington Street in Oxford, the newly renovated Goodwill of Mid Michigan store is bustling. Terri Drobek, the Oxford Store Manager, describes the store with pride. “Our store was renovated about a year and a half ago. It’s a beautiful new store,” she says. Goodwill Oxford offers a wide range of gently used items, from clothing to kitchenware. Donations are accepted during store hours, which run Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 8 pm, and Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm.

While the store accepts most gently used items, Terri explains that they cannot take TVs, mattresses, chemicals, or anything unsafe for resale. Behind the scenes, staff members sort carefully through donations. Clothing is checked for stains, broken zippers, or missing buttons, while the “wares” team evaluates household items for value, cleanliness, and uniqueness. Terri confirms, “Anything on our floor is definitely ready to go, ready to use, ready to be worn.”

Shelly Morino, Donation Acquisition Manager, noted that Goodwill works hard to keep items out of landfills. Anything that cannot be sold on the floor is routed through Goodwill’s recycling and salvage programs. Clothing that is too worn becomes industrial rags or is baled for textile recycling, and many household items are broken down for usable materials. “Almost nothing gets thrown away,” Shelly says, “because we can usually find a second life or a recycling stream for it.”

Goodwill is more than a thrift store. “Goodwill’s mission is to help people with barriers get job training so they can go to work,” Terri explains. The Oxford store works closely with local schools, group homes, and volunteers who come in to learn job skills and gain experience.

Shelly adds just how important the Oxford community is to their operations. “Oxford is one of our southernmost stores, and I believe second in donations for our region,” she says. “The community is super supportive, and donations are amazing.” This generosity allows Goodwill to offer job coaching, skill-building opportunities, and hands-on training that helps people re-enter the workforce.

Goodwill also partners with local organizations and schools through fundraising projects and donation drives. “If schools want to do donation drives, we can pay them per pound so we can support local boosters and programs,” Shelly explains. They also work with the Girl Scouts of Southeast Michigan, where troops collect donations and receive gift cards or prizes in return. The program helps young girls practice job skills, networking, and entrepreneurship.

Another major initiative is Goodwill’s “Round Up” program. When shoppers round up their purchase totals at checkout, the extra change goes directly to a local nonprofit partner. “Mainly these are developmental programs or organizations helping people with education or life skills,” Shelly says. This month and next month, the beneficiary is Love INC. Goodwill will present the nonprofit with a check at the end of the quarter. Shelly encourages local groups to apply. “If you know a nonprofit, send them our way,” she says. Goodwill Oxford currently partners with several local organizations, including Oxford Addison Youth Assistance, Camp Oakland, and Equine Escape, a therapeutic horsemanship program. “Not only do they get funds from us, but our cashiers are saying their name a hundred times a day, and they are also up on our TV screen,” Shelly explains. “People get to know what their community nonprofits are doing, and how they can help.”

At every level, the Oxford Goodwill store reflects a mission centered on service, training, and community connection. Whether someone donates a bag of clothes, shops the new racks, or rounds up their total at checkout, each action helps support programs that change lives.

To learn more about Goodwill and its mission, visit: https://www.goodwill.org/