Goodwill of Central Iowa celebrated a milestone of placing over 500 people in community employment this week. Through job training programs, on-site employment coaching, mock interviews, personalized resume assistance and more, we’ve helped more than 500 people find purpose through the power of work this year.
We couldn’t do it without your support. As a non-profit organization, we rely on revenue from our stores, our online platform, our donors and our contract services to fund our paid job training programs for individuals with barriers. Here’s how you can support Goodwill of Central Iowa this season:
1. Cyber Monday – ShopGoodwill.com/DesMoines is gearing up for an exciting Cyber Monday! We have over 100 items, from premium to weird to wacky, ready to launch at 6am CST. Included will be our famous “Thrift Queen” shirts (read the story behind these here) and some fun “Build Your Own” tacky Christmas sweater kits. Let us know you’re tuning in!
2. Giving Tuesday – We urge you to think before you donate. The rumor mill can circulate misinformation on a wide range of topics, including what is Goodwill’s purpose and the impact local Goodwills have in the communities they serve. Learn more here. This Giving Tuesday, we’re collecting donations to help us fund our 2020 programs and we look to you for your support.
3. Donate your items – Without your items, our stores aren’t able to generate revenue to fund our programs. Take some time this holiday season to bring your gently used items to a local Goodwill of Central Iowa. Goodwill is Central Iowa’s largest recycler and we take extreme measures to keep unsold goods out of landfills.
4. Shop Goodwill – Take a pledge to shop secondhand heading into the New Year. When you shop at Goodwill, the impact on the environment is huge. If everyone in the US bought just one item used instead of new, it would be the equivalent of taking over half a million cars off the road when looking at carbon emissions.
5. Believe in taking chances – Become a Goodwill advocate. The people we serve have barriers to employment that make it easy to dismiss them as a viable candidate. As a community, it’s our job to see past the barriers and to believe in taking chances. Ask some of our hiring partners. You won’t regret it.
As Goodwill of Central Iowa looks forward to celebrating out 65th year making a change in our community, we truly believe that we are #bettertogether. Next year, we hope to serve more Central Iowans than ever before and we look to you for continued support. Together, we can continue helping lift people up and give them opportunities for success.
