Goodwill of Central Arizona

In our fifty-nine year history Goodwill of Central Arizona has never served as many people, helped as many individuals, or raised as much income from retail operations as our team accomplished during 2005.

Goodwill is now excited about the year ahead. We’re off to a great start with the opening of two new retail locations and plans to expand our programs and services to meet our goal of serving 10,000 individuals this year!

2006 also introduces a new advertising campaign for Goodwill of Central Arizona that includes commercials, radio and billboard ads around the Valley. We encourage you to “let your Goodwill show.”

Thank you for your support of Goodwill, it’s your generous donations that flow through our retail stores and support our mission to create hope, jobs and futures.

Goodwill Wins Grant Funds to Provide EITC Assistance

Goodwill of Central Arizona is one of three Goodwills in the nation to receive a $7,000 grant award for the Taxfacts+ Campaign. This award will enable Goodwill of Central Arizona to take a leading role in local Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) coalitions to provide financial education and tax preparation assistance to low-income individuals with disabilities. Ten other Goodwills also received mini-awards which will enable them to support their local EITC efforts. The Bank of America Foundation and Annie E. Casey provided the funds for the Taxfacts+ Campaign awards.

Goodwill had the exciting opportunity to be part of the PF Chang’s Rock n’ Roll Marathon on Sunday, January 15, 2006. 33,000 runners and walkers from all over the United States attended the third annual event on the streets of Phoenix. Staff volunteers from Goodwill supported both the full and half races by following the runners during the first two miles and picking up their discarded warm-up clothes that they chose to donate to Goodwill.

Thanks to the generous donations from the thousands of runners, Goodwill volunteers collected two truck loads of great donated running gear!

She’s a senior in high school and a honor roll student. This fall she was co-captain of the school swim team in which she qualified for the Arizona 5-A State High School Swimming Championships in all four of her events. She was recognized at the annual awards banquet by her coaches with three awards: Most Inspirational Swimmer, Most Valuable Swimmer, as well as her third varsity letter.

Maggie is also a participant in Goodwill's Phoenix Workforce Connection (PWC) Youth program which is providing her with a variety of services such as; career exploration, adult/peer mentoring, leadership development, basic education skills training, work readiness skills training, occupational skills training, job placement, and work experience.

While attending a work adjustment class in December, Maggie was student coordinator for the “Christmas Angel” program. The class adopted a needy family then collected gifts and food for a single mother and her two daughters.

As a result of Maggie’s participation in the PWC program she also learned how to write a resume, participate in an interview, and conduct herself in a professional manner; leading her to secure her current position, working after school at a local preschool and childcare facility.

After graduating in May 2006, Maggie plans to attend a local community college with hopes of pursuing a career where she can help other people. Her aspirations have her considering a number of opportunities; a fire fighter, teacher, physical therapist, social worker, or even an emergency medical technician.

When asked about participating in Goodwill's PWC Youth program, Maggie stated “Through Goodwill I have learned that in order to achieve my potential, I need to challenge myself, set high goals, keep my head high, and work hard every day to achieve those goals.”

ASU Students Host Fashion Show and Donation Drive

Stylish students from Arizona State University (ASU) hosted a fashion show on Friday, February 3rd at the University's Memorial Union located at the ASU Main Campus.

Themed "Good Taste for a Good Cause", students hit the runway modeling the latest fashion trends with all of their clothing having one thing in common - all of the designer duds came from Valley Goodwill stores.

These chic students know that Goodwill features stylish clothing and accessories for a fraction of the price of department stores, making it an affordable resource for their needs.

Donations of clothing were also collected and donated to Goodwill, all for the "Good Cause" of supporting Goodwill's mission: to create hope, jobs and futures for individuals with barriers to employment.

Ask any educator why they went into the profession and the answer is almost always the same: to help young people and to see them flourish. To a teacher there is no greater joy than to see a student succeed and shine. For e-cademie High School, Steven is one such student. A seventeen-year old senior from Oregon, Steven is making the most of what e-cademie High School has to offer.

Steven will graduate from high school in May and until then he plans to take advantage of every opportunity to learn and participate in school activities. In addition to his full course load, Steven is a teacher’s aide, helping students in the computer lab daily. Teachers appreciate his help and dedication to others. He is very positive, mature, enthusiastic, and is very pleasant to his classmates.

When he is not in class or assisting teachers and fellow students, Steven can be seen attending basketball games and or partaking in other school events such as student council and dances. He has a very positive attitude and his enthusiasm for school and school sponsored events is unmistakable. Steven is a member of
e-cademie’s Extreme-Sports team. He has competed in three events - a three mile desert mountain trail-run, a three mile YMCA run, and most recently he successfully completed the Anthem Sprint Triathlon where he swam a quarter mile, cycled 14 miles and then ran three miles. “I can personally tell you that this young man has a lot of heart, class, and a great attitude as well”, boasted Coach Desjardins.

By taking advantage of all the school has to offer and having a terrific attitude Steven is a great role model for other students. Here at e-cademie our mascot is the eagle and Steven is one e-cademie Eagle that is soaring his way towards a bright future.

Goodwill’s Newest Phoenix Location has an XL Grand Opening. Goodwill started the New Year off right with a XL grand opening. XL as in Super Bowl XLI!

Goodwill’s newest Phoenix retail store is located at 8921 N. 7th Street. On February 3rd-5th donors who brought in a donation of clothing, household goods, or other merchandise with an official form were eligible to win a grand prize trip for two to Super Bowl XLI in Miami, Florida, two nights lodging, and roundtrip airfare.

Goodwill Opens its Flagship Store in Gilbert. Goodwill’s newest Gilbert location held its Grand Opening on Friday, February 17th at the northeast corners of Warner & McQueen Roads, 1500 W. Warner Road

Three lucky shoppers were selected for shopping sprees on February 17th-19th prior to the store opening. Goodwill employees distributed raffle tickets to all of the customers waiting in line for the store to open and then drew one name per day. Each winner participated in a 2-minute shopping spree throughout the store, just prior to the store opening.

Shoppers also entered hourly drawings to spin a wheel featuring a number of different prizes including a 42" Plasma HDTV, DVD players, gift certificates, and discounts to Goodwill. There were also balloon drops, face painting, and other family fun events.