It’s back to school time!
There’s a part of me that’s excited about school. My kids have had enough summer fun!
At the same time, I’m dreading the homework, school supply shopping and all the after-school activities that are just around the corner.
I was recently asked to participate in a blogger event to do some back to school shopping, and I couldn’t say no!
I received $25 for each kid (I have two!) to spend at a Central Florida Goodwill store on back-to-school items.
My kids were not thrilled. My two boys shopping for anything other than video games is something that doesn’t happen often.
Starting back-to-school shopping at Goodwill!
But once I told them they could pick out whatever they wanted, they seemed excited. We hit the Goodwill store in Oviedo with gift cards in hand.
I was honestly surprised at all the great clothes my kids found. They love dri-fit shirts, and each child found plenty of them.
We have no uniform requirements at our school. But my kids basically live in “sporty shorts” and a t-shirt or dri-fit shirt.
They found plenty of shorts and shirts to last them for awhile!
Found some great dri-fit shirts at Goodwill!
My youngest who is obsessed with penguins…as mentioned more than once in previous blog posts….even found a penguin pajama shirt. He has worn it every night since buying it.
Patrick found the penguins at Goodwill!
We even found nice “picture day” clothes. Things that they can use for church, school photos, field trips, etc. And even a few pair of pants for the days that it gets cold. My boys HATE to wear pants. It never fails that each year we get a few days where pants are a requirement, and inevitably, the pants we own never fit.
Hopefully this year, we are ready.
What I didn’t love about the store, many of the kids clothes were just in a kids section, and there was really no order as to size. So it did take a lot of work to find stuff that fit – and also stuff for boys. It would have been helpful if boys and girls stuff was separated, especially the pants!
We walked about with two huge full bags of clothes and only spent $28!
So we went back the next night and found even more clothes! I love that even in 24 hours, there were many new clothes items out.
Checkout was a very simple process and the employees were really friendly.
My boys had spotted this “gaming” chair of sorts in the back and wanted to buy it. But, it already had a SOLD sign attached. So my 11 year-old starting asking the guy how long it would sit here until they would sell it to him. They had a great and informative conversation about how the signs work. Yet another reason why we had to return the next day, just to see if the chair was there. IT WAS NOT! Let me say they didn’t need it!! We already have two gaming chairs!
But it was great to see him getting involved.
Goodwill is not a place I really thought about in terms of back-to-school shopping.
But with two growing boys and a busy schedule involving some dress-up activities, it’s a great place to keep in mind when you don’t want to spend a lot of money on “good clothes.”
We donated a bunch of clothes that no longer fit at the same time! So while we cleaned out the drawers a bit, we were also helping to create jobs.
Did you know…
- Donating and shopping at Goodwill funds job training and placement programs that help Central Floridians with barriers to employment. This includes people who have disabilities, those with limited work history, military veterans transitioning to civilian jobs and others.
- Every 24 pounds of donations provides one person with services that can help them find meaningful work. Last year alone, Goodwill served nearly 33,000 people in its Job Connection Centers across Central Florida!
- With convenient drop-off sites and dozens of stores in neighborhoods near you, it’s easy to make a donation … and to make a lasting impact in your community. To find a location near you, visit www.goodwillcfl.org.
