Yard Sale fever is here. With the warm weather brings yard sales. If you are planning on having a yard sale this summer, what will you do with the things that don’t sell? Instead of dragging in the merchandise that doesn’t sell, consider donating to your local Goodwill Store and Donation Center. Your donations help fund job training services in your area.

Thinking about planting a garden this year, but don’t have the time to maintain it? Check out Goodwill at Homefields Farm – it’s a farm that grows fruits and vegetables without chemicals in the heart of Millersville, PA. Goodwill at Homefields Farm is a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program that gorws more than 300 varieties of 45 different fruits and vegetables each season. The farm even has a pick-your-own field for strawberries and blueberries and grows herbs and flowers for the picking. According to Scott, who has been managing this farm for seven years, “Families can pick strawberries and blueberries and show their children or grandchildren how food grows.” They can stroll through the fields and peek in the green house. It’s a great time for families and neighbors.”

Scott also noted, “You can’t beat the freshness of the fruits and vegetables.” There’s no arguing that, but what you can’t beat is the mission- give people with disabilities an opportunity to work. Homefields, an all-volunteer, non-profit organization, is dedicated to creating new life options for people with disabilities. In 2000, Goodwill (the same non-profit organization that oversees thrift stores) joined with Homefields to provide horticultural job opportunities for people with disabilities. Goodwill at Homefields Farm links the trainee farmer to the real-world business. Trainees learn how to organically grow fruits and vegetables. They also learn how to harvest and sell crops.

Anyone in the community can support this program by purchasing a share. Each week, from June to November, shareholders can come to the farm and select from a tempting array of vegetables and fruits. You can purchase a half share, typically for a family of two, or a full share, typically for a family of four. Half share price is $17 per week ($425 a season), and full share price is $28 per week ($675 a season). At Goodwill at Homefields Farm you are not just picking up your produce, you are helping people with disabilities live full, productive lives. To learn more about the farm, click here.

For some, love is in the air, birds are chirping, and people are gazing lovingly at each other during Valentine’s Day. But what if you do not have someone to gaze at? Or what if you just broke up with someone and all this Valentine’s talk is making your stomach turn. If you fall into that category, there is something that you can do to move on and feel good. Instead of tossing his or her things into a garbage can, or having a burn party why not participate in the Dump your X’s Stuff Drive. On February 14, donate any items from past relationships to Goodwill. Dump it and move on. That sweatshirt that smells like him or those CD’s she gave you while you were still together. Instead of throwing them out, why not donate it? Turn your ill-will into Goodwill. You don’t need a date, reservations, or to dress up for this event. Gather the jewelry, picture frames, or clothing and take it to any Goodwill Store and Donation Center. Please keep it legal and keep it clean! Also, please make sure the person has been dumped before donating the items. Once donated, these items go into any of our 34 stores in 22 counties and cannot be located.

Did you know that one working computer can provide someone with 8.1 hours of on the job training? Want to help? Goodwill has partnered with the Dell Reconnect Program. Through this program you can donate your old computer, printer, keyboard, monitor, software, ink or toner cartridges, and some gaming systems to your local Goodwill Store and Donation Center. It is a great way to recycle. Through the Dell Reconnect program millions of pounds of electronics are now being kept out of the landfills. So take the time and recycle your electronics rather than throwing them out!

Visit dellreconnect.com and yourgoodwill.org/shop/stores.php to find out more about what electronics the program will accept and a Goodwill Store near you.

The New Year brings a new slate. Everyone is thinking about the shape their bodies are in and how to lose those extra pounds. What about the shape of your house? For me the New Year is an excuse to clean out my basement, closets and get things organized! I’ve been filling up bag after bag of clothes, shoes, books, etc. I even found things that I didn’t know that I had (hello new favorite pair of shoes). I feel the stress melting off of me and I love that Goodwill will take all my bags of clothing, shoes, and books off my shoulders. My house is getting into shape in 2011 thanks to Goodwill.

Start setting up your “Donation Station” in your house! Thanks to clutterdiet.com, that is what I will be doing this holiday season. All you have to do is simply set aside a corner, room or portion of your basement and place bags of clothing, toys and anything else that you don’t use and want to donate. When the corner is filled take the donations to Goodwill. It’s a great way to organize my life to see what is going out and what I can buy in the post holiday sales to fill the new void in my closet!

Students from GoodGuides®, a youth mentoring program in Berks County, got the opportunity to spread the word about their program. At one of their Monday night activities Vince Angelo, Ricky Phillips and Krysta Blocher from Y102 lent their expertise to help the students create a Public Service Announcement (PSA).

The program is in need of adult mentors, who are paired with youth between the ages of 12 and 17, and are at risk for dropping out of school, facing legal troubles, or are at risk for delinquency. The adult mentors help the youth prepare for school completion and look forward to post-secondary education.

Currently GoodGuides is recruiting new mentors and mentees until February and thanks to Y102, they are able to get the word out about the program. The students were broken up into two groups at the activity and were asked to come up with a PSA to recruit mentors and one to recruit mentees.

Just last week a select few were able to go to Y102 to record these PSA’s. The advertisements will be running through the end of the year.

If you live in the Berks County area and would like to learn more about becoming a mentor please visit www.yourgoodwill.org or call Zylkia Rivera at 484.769.5873.

Happy Cyber Monday! As the days tick down to Christmas, I plan on doing most of my shopping online. Among the many sites I visit to shop for various family members and friends, I always like to check out shopgoodwill.org. They have a variety of unique things that will make the perfect gift for someone I know. Plus I always tend to find something for myself as well!

And while you are already online, check out yourgoodwill.org/farm to buy tasty Homefield Farm Gift Boxes for friends and family.

With the holiday season in full swing, I like to think ahead to those impromptu gifts, the gifts that you should have on hand for unexpected gift givers. So this year I’m ordering a bunch of gift boxes from Goodwill at Homefield Farm. They are awesome to have for those “just in case” moments. Each box contains a bag of Wilbur Buds (yum!), Coffee Roasters Coffee, Kauffman’s Apple Butter, and a bag of S. Clyde Weaver peanut butter pretzels. They are only $17.50 and you can have them shipped all over the United States. Plus all the proceeds from the box benefits Goodwill at Homefield Farm, which provides rewarding horticultural and agricultural employment and training opportunities for adults with disabilities. It’s a win-win solution for this holiday season!

Whether you are ready, the holiday season has arrived! To combat the stress of the shopping season and make sure everyone gets something special, I like to start early. But there are always those few people on my list that are hard to shop for. So I use shopgoodwill.com. I don’t even have to leave my house. I can check it as often as I want. Shopgoodwill.com has some very unique items that those hard to shop for people might like. Check out the photo below from a shopgoodwill.com customer. She bought two silver greyhound statues and has put them to good use! You can find some pretty unique items, anything from antiques, jewelry, and my favorite- tools! With any luck, shopgoodwill.com will save me from the crowded stores and parking lots this holiday season!

 You don’t have to be a PA native to shop on shopgoodwill.com either. Check out this awesome blog from Arizona. She loves shopping on shopgoodwill.com! http://omeneye.blogspot.com/