Goodwill Industries

Goodwill Industries International is a network of autonomous community-based organizations providing job training and employment services to people with work place disadvantages and disabilities in 37 countries.

Good Will includes in their Values statement diversity and respect for all people. They are Non-denominational and not directly affiliated with any one organized religion.

Business

Goodwill collects donated goods and clothing for mending and repair. The items are then placed on sale in retail stores, or given to those who work in the stores. The Goodwill philosophy is thus a "a hand up, not a hand out" or "a chance, not a charity". Helms said Goodwill Industries was an "industrial program as well as a social service enterprise ... a provider of employment, training and rehabilitation for people of limited employability, and a source of temporary assistance for individuals whose resources were depleted."

In addition Goodwill, after conducting job training, provides contract labor services to the public and private sector, and provides placement services for its workers.

Good Will is different from other similar organizations, such as Salvation Army, for many reasons. In addition to being more recognized, Good Will prices items at most of their stores based on type (for example, a shirt) as opposed to a brand (for example, a "Gap" piece of clothing). This truly allows the shoppers to be thrifty, and get good brands inexpensively. However, the stereotype of thrift stores not having much of a selection dissuades many people from taking advantage of this, despite the fact that new items are cleaned and brought in daily.

Some Goodwill chapters are affiliated with Easter Seals, a program for disabled children.

History

Goodwill, as it is generally known, was founded by Methodist Reverend Edgar J. Helms in 1902 in Boston's South End. He wanted to help those who were disadvantaged, so he collected unwanted goods from the more wealthy citizens and trained those who were less fortunate to repair them. He then resold the completed goods to support the organization or gave them to those who were working on them.

In 1910, the organization had grown popular and large enough to be formally incorporated as Morgan Memorial Cooperative Industries and Stores, Inc. as it was housed in Boston's Morgan Memorial Chapel. The name "Goodwill Industries" was later adopted after a Brooklyn, New York, workshop coined the phrase.

By 1920 there were 20 Goodwill stores in major cities in the United States.

As of early 2000s, Good Will becomes a popular, $1.8 billion non-profit organization serving 212,000 people in 1900 retail stores in smaller and larger cities alike. They sell mostly clothes at their stores, although shoes, furniture, household goods and on occasion new items (extras from local dollar stores, department stores, etc., as well as new socks, underwear and bathroom supplies) are also present.

Worldwide the organization has over 200 locations, in addition to approximately 1,900 thrift stores. Donations of clothing and old household items are always accepted, though the company recently changed its policy to discourage old computers from coming in, as they did not have the capacity to appropriately dismantle and recycle the parts.