Goodwill donation centers across the Greater Dallas area have pivoted to collecting personal protective equipment.

The decision to begin collecting PPE came from the desire to fill a need in the community, according to Ashleigh Hughes, vice president of development and marketing for Goodwill Industries of Dallas Inc.

“We were hearing from our medical community the significant need [for PPE], and in response to that, we thought we could best leverage our expertise, which is really in the collection of material donations.” she said.

Dallas County Health and Human Services was chosen as the initiative's primary beneficiary because it is best equipped to distribute PPE as needed, Hughes said.

“They really are our distribution hub for the city,” she said. “And they'll make sure, first and foremost, that [donations get] into the local hospitals and [to] medical providers that need [them] the most.”


Additionally, items are donated to Parkland Hospital and hospitals within the Methodist Health System.

The initiative, which began April 11, includes 23 stores accepting PPE donations, according to Hughes. Items are collected by Goodwill headquarters staff on Fridays before they are distributed to partners; however, one delivery has already been made to Dallas Health and Human Services.

“They needed it sooner rather than later,” Hughes said.

Businesses owners, individuals and health care providers have dropped off items thus far, Hughes said. Several donations of N95 masks and homemade masks have been received; however, sanitizing products are in short supply.


Disinfectant products need to be unopened, Hughes said. Boxes of masks that are open may still be donated as long as the masks are individually packaged in the case, she said.

Several Goodwill locations in the greater Dallas area are accepting donations through April 30. Goodwill Industries of Fort Worth has partnered with the city of Fort Worth to also collect PPE items.

Donation centers are still accepting other donations, such as clothing and home items, in order to prevent unwanted dumping, Hughes said.

“Particularly in times of crisis, you have donors who will leave unwanted items,” Hughes said. “So it's really the environmental aspects of what we do [that] come into play during times like this.”


A map of Goodwill centers collecting PPE donations is below. For a full list of requested items, visit this link.