"Turn your hate into donate."
-Kelly Davis Strausbaugh, Goodwill Manatee
Valentine's Day can sometimes conjure up heartbreak and sorrow.
But now there is a place for you to offload any mementos of recent heartache.
Goodwill Manasota wants you to drop off all those things your ex left behind in their “Donate Your Ex’s Stuff” campaign.
"Don't throw it away," said Kelly Davis Strausbaugh, Goodwill Manasota’s Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator. “Don’t burn it. Bring it to Goodwill.”
Although the official drive begins the day after Valentine’s Day, early “Ex” donations are already coming in.
"I got this bear last Valentine's Day from my boyfriend-- my ex-boyfriend now,” explained Amanda Emory, an early contributor to the campaign. "This bear kind of reminds me of the memories of him and I really don't want to remember that -- especially since Valentine's Day is coming up."
But Emory’s tale will end much differently.
It's the goal of Strausbaugh and Goodwill Manasota to turn Emory's tale of heartbreak -- and hundreds of others -- into real and concrete hope for others.
"In 2015, Goodwill Manasota, in our four-county region, we helped 22,739 individuals. We served 358 veterans and we place 961 people in jobs in our community, and we diverted 41million pounds from local landfills,” said Strausbaugh. “And that is because people donate and shop."
The “Donate Your Ex’s Stuff Campaign” runs through the end of February.