Goodwill donates discarded NYC marathon clothing

Over 52 thousand runners participated in the 2018 TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday. As is typical for November in New York, the runners experienced a chilly morning before warming up during the race, and therefore had to shed layers before the 26.2 mile run across all five boroughs of New York City.

Runners discarded jackets, sweatshirts and hats along their route, throwing them along the side of the track and amounting to a large amount of apparel waste. To take care of these discarded clothing items, Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey stepped in to collect items along the course, with the help of 200 volunteers.

Goodwill volunteers also collected items from runners ready to shed layers before the race. Altogether, the nonprofit second hand clothing retailer retrieved 91 thousand pounds of clothing items to sell at Goodwill stores.

The New York City Marathon items will be distributed across 37 Goodwill stores in the New York Metropolitan area by the end of this week. “We ensure that the thousands of pounds of usable clothing do not go into the landfill, but rather in our 37 stores to support our mission. Goodwill NYNJ creates jobs,” Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and New Jersey chief executive officer and president Katy Gaul-Stigge told WWD.