This post was co-authored by Seattle Goodwill's Daryl Campbell, President & CEO, and Barbara "b.g." Nabors-Glass, Vice President of Job Training and Education.

Earlier today a story was aired and released by KUOW – one that we feel was somewhat unbalanced – about filing reports with police on shoplifters at Goodwill.

Goodwill relies on material donations from the people in our communities to fund our critical and transformative work to provide free job training and education to people with barriers to employment. The community expects us to put their donations to the highest use possible and it is a priority for Seattle Goodwill to be good stewards of the gifts that we receive.

It is a delicate balance sometimes – to protect our ability to fulfill our mission by properly and carefully stewarding donated items, and to make sure that we always approach this difficult issue with the utmost compassion. We recognize that many of those who shoplift from Goodwill are themselves in need of support. Whenever possible we do what we can to help them with goods and services, and we partner extensively with other community-based organizations to help meet their most urgent needs.

We always seek to be extremely thoughtful and inclusive when considering our business and mission policies – we want to deter and prevent people from shoplifting, and we want to act with compassion for those experiencing heartbreaking challenges.

True to our mission, we are always at the ready to serve all those who need help and our doors are open to anyone who enters.

Daryl Campbell, President & CEO

Barbara “b.g.” Nabors-Glass, Vice President of Job Training and Education