Great place to volunteer and serve the community. My son had to complete some community service…read morehours for his boy scouts and we found out about the North Gwinnett Co-Op because they are an active non profit in Buford and were able to sign up easily online. They make volunteering simple and their staff makes you feel welcome and get you plugged in quickly. The warehouse where they store the food is well organized and they also have a warehouse where they organize their donated clothes and a break room where volunteers can grab a water, soda, or snack. The staff and seasoned volunteers are friendly and help you serve with a smile. I am glad a place like this exists in our community as the people who we served seemed genuinely thankful for the help and support during their time of need. 5 stars and a thank you to the North Gwinnett Co-Op and many blessings to you, those who serve and those who are served.

One of my friends made a post a few months back about this group needing volunteers to help assist…read morewith building doggie enclosures, so I jumped at the chance to help. This Non-Profit helps dogs that are chained up, by giving them a spacious enclosure and getting them "off the chain". They are non-judgmental with the owners, only looking to better the welfare of the dogs. They have a FB volunteer page where you can sign up to assist with the builds. All their build supplies come from donations or from buying their shirts/hats. The build staff is wonderful, and you don't need to know anything about putting up fences to help jump in. Most builds take about 1-2 hours and are closer to the Athens area of town. Each build consists of making a spacious fenced-in enclosure, with one area designated for sleeping (it also has a canopy for when it rains and area for shade). A water bucket is provided, igloo home, dog cot, food and toys for the doggie. I had the opportunity to do 2 builds thus far and volunteer helping run a table at a one of their events. You get the hang of it after one build, and you meet some wonderful people in the process. Also, the dogs seem so much happier once they get into their area and can run around freely. If you're looking for a way to give back and love dogs, this is the perfect opportunity! Most builds happen 1-2 times per month, and typically 9am-12pm Saturday or Sunday AM. This entire organization is "Off the Chain"!

From the owner: Off the Chain USA provides non-judgmental assistance to improve the welfare of dogs who are…read morechained/tethered in NE Georgia. We serve as an advocate and voice for responsible dog ownership and owner accountability. Primary services include building free fences for qualified families and distributing free dog houses. We also educate pet owners about proper pet care, and when available provide other resources such as pet food, leashes, collars, pet carriers, water/food bowls, spay/neuter, and veterinary care.

This used to be my favorite goodwill. It used to be so good but they no longer sell the good stuff…read morein their stores. The good stuff: - Hard back fiction novels for adults. The hardback fictions that remain are usually children's books which aren't popular that they've labeled as adult books so they can price them $1 high. ($2.92) - I've seen large non-fiction books (coffee table books) priced as high as $6 - music instruments, they don't even sell the starter instruments your toddlers and preschoolers might use - books of sheet music - any vintage item that is in good repair - art supplies (I mean I found some broken crayons) - any designer clothing or bags (even the cheaper things like Gloria Vanderbilt jeans we can get at Costco for $20) - all leather jackets - all trench coats - vintage jewelry - enamel pins or little buttons - toys are mostly gone except some stuffies, especially any which might appeal to Gen X or older millennials as a nostalgia item They send all of this "good stuff" which they get for free and send it to a e-commerce sites where virtually everything starts priced at $9-50. Then they charge $2-7 for handling plus $5-15 for shipping for almost every item. This means for any new item, almost anything will cost you less to order from Amazon. They also tend to overprice things that are new and look ornate. For example, they are currently trying to sell a fountain pen that costs you $23 from Amazon for $59.99. I've emailed them several times since first seeing the item listed to inform them that it looks ornate but it is actually from a cheap pen company. Goodwill packaging which I assume is supposed to be covered by "handling" fee is BAD. I ordered a few things to test them out: - One arrived at my place okay. But it took over a week to leave their facility. When I emailed asking about the delay, they said that the items are only guaranteed to leave after 5 business days and Saturday and Sunday are not business days even though they are open on Saturday but closed on Friday. I ordered the item on Saturday, which meant it took they kept the item for 10 days to ship. - One lot of pens, for which I paid $25 in shipping and handling... they literally scraped into a plastic grocery bag then put the bag into the bottom of the box. The bag contained a delicate, early 1900s: mother of pearl dip pen with a gold nib which had a box that they declined to use, a glass fountain pen (also not in its box) and a bunch of nibs... plus 3 bonus razor blades all shipped 2000 miles to me with all the padding ABOVE the items. - Another they described as an inkwell (I am an artist)... it wasn't. It was 12 inches tall and a wine bottle. They provided no photos to give reference to size. - Another was a t-shirt press and it came wrapped in two boxes with no padding. The two boxes were held together by a piece of tape that may have been 2 inches long. If an item doesn't sell through their website on the first few rounds.... Like all those starter music instruments you might have bought for your kid for $5-10 and used artist loft kits that they were trying to start at $25 (when you shipping and handling fee ). They auction them off in giant boxes for hundreds to thousands of dollars. If you can avoid it don't shop at their stores, take the time to find another thrift store. But above all don't donate your items. They are taking the goods you are donating to help others in your community and selling them to people who have money to get into bidding wars. Meanwhile they are paying their CEO's up to $750,000 a year while paying their disabled employees as little as $0.75 and hour. No I didn't leave out a number. Seventy-five cents an hour. I recommend SVDP, Value Village, Humane Society Thrift Stores, Scraplants, and Habitat Humanity Re-Store. All of these are great places to donate and great places to shop. References regarding pay and Goodwill, I've seen no evidence that they've improved their ethics: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/disabled-workers-paid-just-pennies-hour-its-legal-flna6C10406957

They do a good job of sorting through what they want and they want most everything. Very happy with…read morethe personnel at this location

We adopted Daisy 6 years ago and she is a love. The application was long but this is necessary to…read morefind the best possible homes for these animals that have already suffered enough. I appreciate all the work and time it takes to rehab and rehome these little angels. I don't blame them for being picky. These become their babies and IT MATTERS ! Thank you again for saving her and we will not ever let you down. xxxooo Joan - Rehoboth MA

Loving shelter that truly cares about the animals, cage free!!!! Makes me happy there are kind…read morepeople like this in the world

Paw Project of Georgia is truly a special place. From the moment you walk in, you can feel how…read morecozy, welcoming, and full of love the atmosphere is. The people there are incredibly friendly and genuinely care about every single animal in their rescue. It's clear that the animals are not just being housed, but truly loved, nurtured, and given a second chance at a happy life. This rescue runs on compassion, dedication, and heart--and they rely on donations to continue their amazing work. Supporting Paw Project of Georgia means supporting a team that goes above and beyond for animals who need it most. I'm so grateful for everything they do.

Quick easy affordable vet! Plus they are very helpful to the community. I picked up a free bag of…read moredog food for my pup. Which was really needed this month.

We do this every year for community service. My fraternity and our sister organization come in and…read moredo diapers and clothes and Women's Health packs and all sorts of things. We take a few months throughout the year to stack up donations. And then we just ended up sorting things and putting things in places in the warehouse. It's a really good way for us to work together, to give back to the community. All of the proceeds go to places that are in need, within the community. Giving back a super important, and helping Mama's is consistently in the Forefront of that within Gwinnett county.

From the owner: Baby Supply Bank of Georgia. Support the over 300,000 women and children living in poverty in Metro…read moreAtlanta by texting "HELPMAMAS" to 44-321.

WONDER-FULL!!! I am one of six sisters born to my parents. I know the great spirit that connects…read moreus--ALL!!! I read over the website, I felt ever so grateful for the works the Sisters perform. I sincerely look forward to joining their efforts! I Stand. I SALUTE!!!

My wife and I visited Open Hand Atlanta to volunteer our time for a couple of hours to prep meals…read more Open Hand provides nutritional meals for those with chronic diseases, such as AIDS/HIV, different forms of cancer, etc. These nutritional meals promote and prolong healthier way of life. Once you arrive and sign in, you'll be taken to a waiting room area, where Open Hand staff gives you a rundown of their history and what their mission is. You also get the rules of the prep room and are gifted a one of a kind hairnet, plastic apron, and men with facial hair gets face masks. No jewelry may be at any time. Rings, necklaces, earrings, facial piercings, watches, etc. can NOT be worn. There are different things that you can do at this space, but I wanted to do meal prep. We washed our hands and grabbed plastic gloves. Keep in mind, the gloves are different sizes. The meal prep was like an assembly line. The meal we prepped was Beef Stroganoff on Noodles with Green Beans. With a scale, the first person weighed the appropriate number for the noodles, the second person weighed the right number of beef stroganoff, and the third person weighed the right number for green beans. There is then a fourth person who wipes off any excess food from around the rim of the food container. This is important so the plastic cover will seal appropriately. It's then put in this contraption that holds multiple containers and a person press seals it and puts it to the side. This is definitely quite a process, but once you get into the flow of it, it becomes easier. Some people make it a challenge against another group to see who can make the most meals. Side note: THIS PLACE IS FREEZING! The ENTIRE BUILDING IS COLD! Bring a jacket or hoody. Overall, this is a great place to come with a group or by yourself and do some charitable services. Fortunately, we came with a large group of my wife's coworkers, so we were able to knock out over 2,500 meals which was awesome! I'd definitely come back.

I volunteered at Open Hand two weeks ago (Saturday, July 22, 2017) and had a lot of fun. I didn't…read moreknow what to expect as far as working conditions, the general environment, and exactly what we would be doing. Would I be in some freezing cold meat locker? Would I be inside an insanely hot warehouse? Would I be breaking my already broken back moving heavy objects around? Would I be doing some mundane task for hours and be bored out of my mind? Fortunately, the answer to all those questions was no. I went with a big group to celebrate someone's birthday (a neat idea). Half of us did meal packing and the other half did market basket packing. I signed up for meal packing. Our meal packing session involved packing meals into bags and portioning food into individual containers (think frozen TV dinners). The food was already cooked and just needed to be heated up to be eaten. Market basket packing involves packing nonperishable foods. In this case, the food wasn't cooked and the recipients would need to cook it themselves. We signed up to work from 1pm to 4pm. Each of us had to register on Open Hand's website. After registering and reserving our spots, we received confirmation emails with information, reminders, and dress code requirements. One of the dress code requirements in my confirmation email said, "Long pants are preferred. Skirts or dresses must be shin length." I wore shorts. When standing, those shorts touched the top of my knees. My girlfriend, who also signed up for meal packing, wore shorts too. Her shorts were shorter. She ended up getting moved to market basket packing because of the length of her shorts. This wasn't a big deal, but the dress code requirements listed in the confirmation email should have been more clear about shorts or simply just said that long pants are required for meal packing. There was at least one other person in our meal packing group with knee-length shorts. When you arrive to Open Hand, the volunteer entrance is clearly marked. Each volunteer must sign in and sign out using a computer just inside the entrance. We arrived right around 1pm, checked in, and were ushered into an orientation room. The orientation was quick, about 10 minutes. A short video about Open Hand was played and then we got some in-person instruction. After that, we were whisked to our volunteer work areas. For meal packing, we had to wear hair nets and aprons. First, we helped prepare bags to place meals in, then we moved into the meal packing work area. This was a cool, clean room with various tables and assembly lines. One group was already sealing TV dinner trays when we arrived. We washed our hands and helped assemble bags with four meals in them: Monday lunch, Monday dinner, Tuesday lunch, and Tuesday dinner with cornbread and condiments (ketchup and mustard). It was pretty easy. Each person was assigned to place one or two items into each bag and pass it down. I was responsible for the ketchup and mustard. After a bag had four meals, cornbread, and condiments, it was tied and placed on a tray which was later stacked and carted off. We assembled 126 of these Monday-Tuesday meal bags. Two of our meal packing group were broken off and sent to the cornbread station where they individually bagged and sealed cornbread. The cornbread was already cooked and cut. After assembling the meal bags, we took a short break in the break room and then were called back into the meal packing room for another job. This time, we had to portion food into TV dinner trays which would later be sealed. This task was harder than the last because we had to handle food directly with our hands (wearing gloves of course) and measure correct portion sizes using scales. We packed 285 meal trays filled with chicken, mushroom risotto, and peas and pearl onions. The hands of the people scooping and portioning out the risotto and peas got tired. I helped a little bit with the peas and organizing and stacking the meal trays on bigger trays, but I mostly was responsible for placing a piece of chicken on top of the risotto. We ended up spending almost our full 3-hour allotment at Open Hand. The market basket packing group ended up finishing early, in under 1.5 hours. Volunteer Services Manager Julie Barwig was the person who oversaw our group. In the meal packing room, Andre led us for the meal bag packing and Shameka led us for the meal tray portioning. Everyone was nice and friendly. I enjoyed the experience so much that I'm now considering signing up to do meal delivery. Open Hand's mission statement: "Open Hand helps people prevent or better manage chronic disease through Comprehensive Nutrition Care, which combines home-delivered meals and nutrition education as a means to reinforce the connection between informed food choices and improved quality of life." The campus is located in the industrial Armour neighborhood of Atlanta near SweetWater Brewing Company and the Armour Yard rail yard on the southern edge of Buckhead.

Sometimes I would donate here under the pretense that people like me and my partner (LGBTQ) for…read moreexample would be donating for a good cause to help even our own. But upon doing more research and seeing more on their website, I feel uncomfortable donating to an organization that sees my people typically as inferior. I'd rather not participate in further assisting their organization's... activities. IYKYK. There are other places that could benefit from both time, effort, donations and consideration that support both local and wider groups of people's needs.

This location has an abundance of quality used furniture and knick knacks , dishes, etc. Their…read moreclothing sections not quite as good as Goodwill or Value Village. Employees are friendly and good Christian music (Fish FM)plays above whilst you shop. The book section and stock area was kind of messy. Like all second hand stores its like a treasure hunt but ymmv. This store has all the prices clearly listed on yellow stickers.

The store manager (black female) should be fired! She is…read moreextremely rude to customers! Taking back items from customers hand and changing prices at the register!!!!Hide her name badge.She treats her employees very badly too. You can hear her yelling at her employees with no respect at all! Those with smelling faces are all gone only cold stone faces still working there....prices keep going higher and higher with less and less traffic in this poorly managed store. It will be a bid failure if its management will not replaced soon!

The cleanest and most well organized Goodwill I have ever been to. The prices were amazing as well!…read moreHighly recommend.