Category: Social Good

Group of three students wear backpacksIn preparation for the new school year, Goodwill Industries of Northern Illinois (Rockford) recently partnered with Project 16:49, a local nonprofit organization, to host a backpack donation drive benefiting Rock County homeless youth. Community members were encouraged to donate school supplies and nonperishable goods for the event at the Rockford Goodwill’s Retail Store/Donation Center. Goodwill Industries of Northern Illinois has also awarded seven local community colleges $31,500 in scholarship funds targeting persons with challenges to advance their education.

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This spring, Discover Goodwill of Southern and Western Colorado (Colorado Springs) began a new service contract with the Colorado Springs Downtown Partnership to clean and maintain the city’s streets, sidewalks and alleyways. Not only is this a new contract, but it’s a new business venture that led to 100 percent of the agency’s Pursuits program graduates being placed in employment.

READ MORE from In Colorado Springs, Goodwill® Parlays Custodial Experience into Street Cleaning Business

Six Lincoln, NE, neighborhoods donated nearly 18,000 pounds of clothing, furniture and household items to Goodwill Industries Serving Southeast Nebraska during its Neighborhood Challenge this summer. From May 26 to July 6, the Goodwill® hosted a friendly competition to encourage neighborhood associations to donate garage sale leftovers and other household items to Goodwill. The top three neighborhoods received funding for neighborhood-improvement projects.

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On June 28, Goodwill of Orange County (Santa Ana, CA) launched Enduring Independence – a national pilot program focused on highlighting the business justification for hiring young veterans. To kick off the program, the agency hosted a golf tournament and presented an iconic military leader with its first service award.The program educates employers about the 10 advantages that make hiring a veteran a smart business decision.

READ MORE from In Orange County, Goodwill Launches Program to Tout the Benefits of Hiring Veterans

Thanks in part to the efforts of Goodwill Industries of Central Texas, Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) recently signed into law three bills that will benefit adult learners in the state. While the agency worked hard to move all the legislation through, it proposed and had a hand in crafting SB 1142, which enables adults over the age of 26 to earn a high school diploma as an alternative option to a general educational development (GED) certificate.

READ MORE from In TX, Goodwill Influences Adult Diploma Legislation from Start to Finish

In conjunction with the grand opening of its first retail store in Hawaii in June, Microsoft presented Goodwill Industries of Hawaii (Honolulu) with a $500,000 software donation plus several PCs.

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From June 10 to 13, Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids (MI) participated in a youth employment event, Ready Now! for Youth, that gave youth in Kent County employment skills and training to interview for jobs and internships. The collaborative effort brought together Grand Rapids Community College, the Kent Intermediate School District, the Goodwill, the chamber of commerce, Kris Mathis Enterprise and Express Employment.

READ MORE from Grand Rapids Event Prepares Youth for Work, Connects Them with Business Leaders

In just four years, the weight of goods donated by Boston University (BU) students during Morgan Memorial Goodwill’s (Boston) Goodwill Not Landfill donation drive has nearly tripled. From April 22 to May 20, the university placed Goodwill bins in 15 locations – including every dorm – so that students could easily give away items they no longer needed as they cleared out their rooms to leave for the summer. The Goodwill also placed bins at the front of its store near campus so students who live off campus could also contribute.

READ MORE from Boston University, Goodwill® Collect More than 90 Tons of Donations

As residents of Moore, OK, continue to rebuild following the EF5 tornado that swept through the area on May 20, Goodwill® agencies headquartered in Shreveport, LA; Wichita, KS; and Little Rock, AR, spearheaded relief efforts to generate material and financial donations to people impacted by the storm.

READ MORE from Local Goodwills Host Relief Efforts for Moore, OK, Tornado Victims

What began as a volunteer program at Goodwill Industries of Central Arizona (Phoenix) to teach computer skills courses has expanded into a widespread volunteer program that meets critical needs throughout the region’s retail stores and career centers, allowing the Central Arizona Goodwill to offer more extensive services to an increasing number of people.The volunteer program has helped meet staffing needs at Goodwill an in keeping with its mission of putting people to work, Goodwill looks to hire many of the volunteers.

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Hispanics now comprise 15 percent of the total U.S. labor force, and by 2020 that number is expected to rise to 19 percent. Despite this, many of these Hispanic workers and job seekers are not reaching their full potential. To better serve this population, a private grant in 2010 enabled Goodwill Industries International to establish Buena Vida (Good Life), a program designed to provide education and employment services for job seekers in the Hispanic community. Through this grant, Goodwill agencies are developing their Hispanic services in surrounding communities in partnership with community organizations and institutions.

READ MORE from Hispanic-Focused Services in Georgia Help Encourage a ‘Buena Vida’

Jim Gibbons at Sarnia receptionOn May 5, Canadian singer-songwriter Justin Hines performed a free concert to kick off a year-long 80th anniversary celebration of Goodwill Industries – Essex Kent Lambton (Sarnia, ON). HVM Holdings and Glenn Recycling sponsored the concert, which was held at the Imperial Theatre. On May 6, Jim Gibbons, the president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International, spoke at a breakfast hosted by the Sarnia-Lambton Chamber of Commerce.

READ MORE from Sarnia Goodwill Kicks Off Year-Long Anniversary with Free Concert and Welcome Luncheon