Good360 Australia founder Alison Covington wins national award

During the peak of the COVID-19 lockdown, they were matching 39-items every minute.

"It was crazy," said founder and managing director Alison Covington, who last week won the national Third Sector Award for CEO of the Year.

"What we recognised right at the beginning was they mandated face masks to leave the house and many people in the community couldn't afford the basic necessities. So we rushed out to gather face masks, hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies because those basic essentials are expensive. We wanted to make sure everyone could afford to be compliant.

"We then helped with personal items like shampoo, conditioner and toothpaste. I heard one story about a person at a nursing home running out of toothpaste - it broke my heart people were in that sort of condition and those circumstances. We were also helping with boredom busters for parents who were home schooling with things like toys and clothing. Things if you have a couple of dollars in your pocket you take for granted that you can afford to do. So many families had parents who had been stood down from work and couldn't afford everyday things you take for granted.

"Those in the 12 LGAs of concern needed access to brand new goods and businesses wanted a really smart way to donate goods."

That's where Good360 comes in.

They match the right goods to the right people at the right time. Not-for-profit, schools and community groups tell them what goods they need and when, businesses pledge the brand new products and Good360 connects them together via their online marketplace.

Since 2015, more than $190 million worth of goods have been donated from businesses, matching 25 million plus items to 3000 charities and schools nationally. In the past three months they have put four million items into the community.

At the centre of the online-based not-for-profit service is their Smithfield base where 15 staff pack and sort the goods that need to go out to the community.

During COVID-19 restrictions, their usual reliable band of volunteers were unable to help and their click and collect service was forced to stop with the NSW Police and Australian Defence Force helping get essential items into people's homes.

The idea for Good 360 came back in 2012 because Mrs Covington saw a gap in the market, whereby businesses didn't have a solution to donate surplus brand-new, non-perishable goods to charities and disadvantaged schools.

It was inspired by an American organisation undertaking similar activities.

"I read about Good 360 operating in the US and I just couldn't get over the fact they had been matching brand new goods for more than 30 years," she said.

"In Australia, we had been really good at matching food but we weren't matching other goods and I was just wondered what was happening to all those goods. The answer was nothing. What are we going to do about that? You can't unknow that.

"Charities, schools and community organisation can register with us and order goods they want. Right goods to the right people at the right time. It's really important for charities because often in time of need charities are inundated with things they haven't asked for. They get to choose what they need for their communities in the size and quantities they need it in. That's very important because a lot of charities don't have storage."

Mrs Covington said they'd set a national goal of delivering $1 billion worth of goods by 2025.

Their immediate goal is helping vulnerable people during the Christmas period - which is traditionally their busiest times of the year.

"How do you tell kids Santa is not coming this year? We are making sure Santa is coming to every community," she said.

"We've had two years of back-to-back disasters including bushfires and two COVID lockdowns. For us, it's amazing to support so many communities."

In a year of accolades, Mrs Covington is also a finalist for the Community Woman of The Year Award at the upcoming Western Sydney Women Awards.

"We're always so busy just doing the doing; it's just lovely people are recognising the hard work we are putting in," she said.