April’s Good Links

Each month, the Social Good Blog highlights news and resources on a specific topic. In April, we are exploring the opportunities and challenges related to sustainability.

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April's Good Links

Each month, the Social Good Blog highlights news and resources on a specific topic. In April, we are exploring the opportunities and challenges related to sustainability.

READ MORE from April's Good Links

My Story: Crystal Jacobs

My name is Crystal Jacobs and I was born deaf. Much of my life and the decisions I’ve made have been regulated by fear. Fear of being different, fear of failure, fear of feeling alone. Most people don’t think the divide between hearing and deaf to be that big of a deal, but it’s something I had a lot of trouble with. I’m not confident in the way I talk or sound, and this caused a lot of issues for me and how I interacted with people who can hear.

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Find Prom Perfection at Goodwill®

Prom season is right around the corner and most of the early birds have probably already gotten their elegant attire worms. For those of us who are always hopelessly last minute or for anyone who has been searching for months to no avail, I have a few ideas to share today that could replace your prom season stress with a spark of excitement. These last months of the school year should be filled with an eager joy or even a sweet nostalgia, so prepare to put your worries behind you and get pumped about a new prom ensemble instead!

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Imagine if Your Donations Filled an Entire Plane

This Friday marks 46 years since the first Earth Day in 1970. You may not know it, but if you have donated to your local Goodwill or shopped at a local Goodwill store or online you have helped make our planet a little cleaner and a little greener. How much greener? In 2010 Goodwill (and you!) helped divert more than 2.4 billion pounds from landfills through donations to, and purchases from, Goodwill.

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The Container Store Leads Retail Market as a Conscious Business

What if everyone associated with a business could thrive? For all of us at The Container Store, it’s not just a question. It’s what we strive to achieve in all that we do for each of our stakeholders – our employees, customers, vendors, the community, our shareholders and the environment. Our company is among a growing number of employers who run their businesses according to the tenets of Conscious Capitalism – a way of thinking about capitalism that better reflects the innate potential of business to make a positive impact on the world.

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Spring at Goodwill® Means Finding a Fresh Start

What’s the most exciting thing about the springtime? For me, it’s how BRIGHT everything becomes. After the time change there are more daylight hours and once the leaves pop, their vibrant greens seem to electrify the air. Today I want to focus on how we can capture that luminous quality that springtime has and use it to enthuse the rest of our lives.

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Goodwill Advocacy Leader Award Winners Announced

Goodwill Industries International (GII) honored five members of Congress and the director of mission strategies for Goodwill Industries of Central and Coastal Virginia (Richmond) with the nonprofit’s annual advocacy awards. The awards, which recognize commitment to advancing Goodwill’s mission of helping people build careers and gain employment, were presented on Tuesday, April 12 during a reception in Washington, DC, as part of Goodwill’s annual advocacy event.

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Spend More, for What? Eco-friendly Fashion is Within Reach

Do you consciously get dressed knowing what you are wearing? Several years ago, Dr. Christina Dean, founder and CEO of Redress, an NGO working to reduce waste in the fashion industry, posed this question. Her message on reuse and sustainability in retail is still just as relevant today. Dean describes the industry as both “wonderful” and “horrific.”

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My Story: Angelo Pegeuese

My name is Angelo Pegeuese. I was born and raised in Winston-Salem, NC. I was a troubled teenage boy who was raised by a single mother. I started getting into trouble with the law at the age of 14 and in 2005, when I was 18, I was convicted of multiple offenses and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Those had to be the toughest years of my life.

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Creative Repurposing: Three Fresh Ideas

With Earth Day only two weeks away and environmental consciousness on everyone’s mind, we thought we’d share a little about how Goodwill® helps to save our planet. On top of creating a wonderful opportunity for neighbors to reuse one another’s second-hand items through retail stores, Goodwill stock that doesn’t sell after a significant amount of time in stores and outlets is baled and sold to textile recyclers, which extends the life of already manufactured goods. Right there we have two of the three sustainability Rs, now let’s look at the third: reduce. Here are a few fresh ways that people have reduced their need to buy new things simply by reusing the old for their creative repurposing projects!

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Join the #GoodwillOnHill Virtual Advocacy Day!

This week, Goodwill® advocates from around the country will visit Capitol Hill and meet with hundreds of lawmakers to advocate for federal investments in workforce program, protecting charitable giving incentives, and reauthorizing the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. You can help bolster the success of their visits and help strengthen Goodwill’s public policy influence.

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