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If 2020 taught us all one thing,
it’s that you can never anticipate what the future will bring.What began as a celebration of Delivering Good’s 35th year of nationwide charitable aid quickly transformed into a year filled with new and pressing challenges: a worldwide pandemic and economic shutdown that created hundreds of thousands of new households in need; logistical challenges to sending the most essential goods to communities around the country; and a postponement of our annual in-person events, to name just a few.
Yet in the face of these crises, we found no shortage of new paths to tread and new beginnings to undertake. We pioneered new partnerships with apparel manufacturers to make and send face masks and other personal protective equipment to low-income communities and frontline workers across America, alongside delivering a record-breaking number of individual items of clothing and goods to those in distress. We launched a new and major initiative into advancing racial equity and opportunity in and outside of our organization. And under the leadership of our Board of Directors, we embarked on Vision 2025, a comprehensive set of guideposts for the change and impact we will carry out together for the next decade to come.
If we could never have expected what 2020 would hold, neither could we have dreamed the new possibilities and incredible accomplishments the future would promise. As we enter into 2021, we are proud to work together to create a world of greater and more sustainable equality and opportunity for all who live in it. And we are confident that no matter what surprises the next year may bring, we will find our way to a better tomorrow.
LISA GURWITCH
President & CEO
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NATIONAL REACH WITH LOCAL IMPACT
Thanks to the dedication of our extensive network of community partners and the continued generosity of our donors, Delivering Good supports local communities and vulnerable populations facing any number of challenges. Here are just a few of the people whose lives were impacted by our efforts in 2020.
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“Delivering Good’s impact in the lives of children goes beyond just meeting their tangible critical need for new, clean clothing that fits them. Receiving these wonderful clothes truly gives kids real, lasting confidence! When we first met the young lady pictured, she was often very timid and self-conscious. Months after receiving her new dress from Delivering Good, she was still SO excited and expressed that it was her most favorite piece of clothing she owned. Wearing it gave her such a visible level of confidence that made all of us so happy to witness!”
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“Youth come to us in every state of homelessness. Sometimes they will simply walk in off the street with whatever they’ve got on their backs and that’s it. Thanks to the large donation of coats from Delivering Good, we not only gave out over 300 coats to our homeless youth at the shelter, but we also formed a new partnership with the Dayton Young Black Professionals who gave even more of the donated coats to youth whose family has been greatly affected by the pandemic. It truly takes a community working together for our youth to have a better future.”
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The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the need for the work we do at Delivering Good but it has also presented us with the opportunity to expand our product assortment and deepen our impact. In 2020, we delivered more than 2 million face masks to both adults and children thanks to Safe+Mate’s Buy-One, Give-One program and the generosity of several other product donors. We also provided comfortable Easy Spirit shoes to front-line workers in Denver, hundreds of blankets to Covid-19 patients in New York City courtesy of Amtrak, and distributed tens of thousands of PPE and hand sanitizer throughout the United States.
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“Once again, Delivering Good delivered in a crisis, and NYDIS couldn’t be more grateful for your compassion and expediency. The donated Amtrak blankets provided to the Javits Center Field Hospital for COVID-19 patients met a heartbreaking need. The patients needed extra blankets to stay warm at the end of their life or, in most cases, during their life-threatening illness. Some would have been discharged to homes without adequate bedding were it not for the partnership between Delivering Good and Amtrak. Thank you, for bringing comfort and helping heal our fellow New Yorkers during this challenging time for humanity.”
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“When I joined the Hour Children Working Women Program, I needed to look professional. Delivering Good gave us a huge donation of beautiful clothes. During this tragic time of Covid-19, it was impossible for me to go out and get my own clothes, so this donation means everything to me. I have beautiful business attire now that I can go into the workforce with and interview for jobs and really look professional.”
Christina I., Program Participant
HOUR CHILDREN (Long Island City, NY)
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“The gift of the Highlights magazines from Delivering Good gave me a fabulous way of getting my students with Autism using visual skills, literacy skills, life skills and games! Student engagement is one of the greatest challenges that we face with this population so when very engaging, fun activities are introduced learning increases!! What a great donation from a company I grew up on and have my students now using!”
Mary M., Elementary School Teacher
A GIFT FOR TEACHING (Orlando, FL)
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From the wildfires that ravaged the west coast to a record-breaking season of tropical storms, 2020 brought devastating natural disasters to a world already facing enormous challenges due to the pandemic. Through generous donations from retailers and manufacturers, Delivering Good provided families and individuals in need with new clothing, home goods and other necessities as they sought to rebuild and recover from the wrath of Mother Nature.
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“In the aftermath of the Sept. 8, 2020 Alameda fire, help for more than 2,500 displaced Oregonian families came from local agencies that banded together to pool their resources. The relief effort soon expanded to a broader network of volunteers who brought new clothing, socks, underwear and winter clothes donated by Delivering Good to fire refugees like Janet Blackwell (pictured) who were struggling in smaller remote communities from central Oregon to northern California. Wheelchair-bound and living with terminal cancer, Janet hugged each item and cried as she marveled at what strangers had done for her. The sheer joy at knowing that somebody in the outside world knew who she was and had sent her something beautiful changed the end of her life.”
Marty Rosen, Local Oregonian Volunteer
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“LGBTQ+ young people are at an increased risk of homelessness and this risk grew due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We've recently seen multiple LGBTQ+ identified youth come through our intake process in need of essential services like clothing. The clothing donations from Delivering Good give young people who already have so few options available to them the ability to choose from a variety of quality clothes that are unique to their identities and personalities. The excitement on a young person's face when they see a colorful American Eagle jacket, or a brand-new Ralph Lauren polo is palpable. We're so grateful to Delivering Good for providing LGBTQ+ young people with the chance to be themselves!”
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“The donations we’ve received from Delivering Good have provided support to tribal communities across the state and are more critical than ever in the midst of the pandemic. The Navajo Nation, in particular, had the country’s highest Covid-19 infection rate for many weeks and these communities faced enormous challenges as a result. During months of inclement weather, the donated outerwear helped families make it through the winter. A partner agency shared that due to extensive lockdown measures, resources were ‘incredibly limited in our remote location’ and that the ‘generous donation was a tremendous blessing to many, many members of the San Carlos Apache Nation.’”
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SUSTAINABILITY
Our world and environment are the most precious resource any of us have. That’s why, throughout 2020, Delivering Good worked with our product partners to reduce the more than 13 million tons of textile waste produced each year. By taking high-quality goods that would otherwise end up in landfills and sending them to homes in need across the United States, we provide our industries with sustainable solutions for a healthier planet, while simultaneously supporting our communities to fulfill our vision of a more equitable world.
LET'S DELIVER GOOD TOGETHER
You, too, can make a positive impact on the lives of vulnerable children, families and adults.
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OUR MISSION
Delivering Good unites retailers, manufacturers, foundations and individuals to provide people impacted by poverty and tragedy with new merchandise, effectively distributed through a network of agency partners to offer hope, dignity and self-esteem to at-risk children, families and individuals.