By Victoria Selover
This past Tuesday, I spent my Valentine’s Day volunteering with GOOD+ Foundation in NYC. The organization “partners with a national network of leading programs to break the cycle of family poverty through the power of donated goods and transformational services.”
Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld started GOOD+ as “Baby Buggy” after the birth of their first child. After a few months, the couple's daughter grew out of all her clothing and accessories (as babies do) but Jessica didn’t know who or where to donate them. She started with a donation drive, inviting fellow families to recycle their lightly used clothing and equipment. 17 years later and more than six million items have been donated to families in need. In addition, GOOD+ Foundation works with more than 50 community-based organizations such as ones related to domestic violence, prenatal care, and parenting programs.
During my time at GOOD+ Foundation, I found out that "more than 16 million children live in families with household incomes below the federal poverty level — $23,550 a year for a family of four." I didn’t realize the impact that my work that day would have on a child’s happiness.
I worked with a group of other volunteers to go through the apparel and accessories and organize/categorize the pieces on their type and degree of use. We sorted through hundreds of mismatched socks, jewelry, winter mittens, baseball hats, and a lot of headbands (as seen below).
Afterwards, we packaged 10 accessories into individual bags that would later be handed out to little girls at the aforementioned community partner organizations. As I filled each of my bags up, I was careful to give a good variety of hairband styles and jewelry types. I was filled with excitement, anticipation and joy just thinking about how happy the girls would be upon receiving it.
While these families need more than just fashion scarves and silly sunglasses, these little packages have the ability to lift spirits. I couldn’t think of any better way to spend my Valentine’s Day than to be spreading love throughout my NYC community.