Friday was a big day for Black Friday shoppers, but it was also a time for people to help those in need.

For 13 and a half hours Friday, WEAU 13 news teamed up with Goodwill to collect clothing.

Goodwill's clothing drive at Oakwood Mall lasted from 5 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Friday and it saw an overwhelming response from the community.

There was a steady stream of cars all day long past Goodwill’s donation truck. Dale Winistorfer, the Regional Team Leader for Goodwill says, “The response here has been very good, we've been busy all day long.”

Box after box of clothes were stacked into the truck and driven to Goodwill to be unloaded.
Friday’s goal was to get about 10,000 pounds of clothes, but by the end of the day he said they'd nearly doubled that goal at 20,000 pounds of donated clothes.

Winistorfer says, "To think about it, how much 10,000 pounds is, the average high school senior wears about 8 pounds of clothing if you include the shoes." So with that final total, Goodwill could clothe nearly 2500 people.

Winistorfer says he thinks the economy has really affected today's drive -- and in a good way. He says, "Economic times are tough, people understand there's going to be more people in need and we'll be there to help them out with that need."

While people were donating at Oakwood, Goodwill employees were quickly unloading the trucks at their store and sending the trucks back for more.

Mary Jarosc, Goodwill’s Area Team Leader says her store was getting a little empty, but after Friday’s donations things are looking up. She says, "Our coats have been very low, I know a lot of people have been coming in and buying those, and this is really gonna help our coat situation, and I think our clothes as well."

She says coats were the number one donation Friday, but people are always in need of winter wear.

If you have any old or unused winter coats or snow boots -- especially in kids sizes -- she encourages you to drop them off at Goodwill.