New Store In Eustis Opens!

Goodwill has grown again!!! We are pleased to announce the grand opening of our newest store in Eustis, located at 276 Ardice Avenue. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on June 23. Among the dignitaries and city officials was Commissioner Evelyn Smith, who welcomed Goodwill to the City of Eustis. This latest store has 13,000 square feet, with plenty of space for all the fresh new merchandise available to customers. This store location will replace the Eustis attended donation center, located on Orange Avenue, which will close at the end of June. Now you can drop off your donations at our new store and shop at the same time!

Goodwill Receives CARF Accreditation
    -Goodwill Awarded Three-Year Accreditation from CARF
 

CARF is an independent, not-for-profit accrediting body whose mission is to promote the quality, value and optimal outcomes of services through a consultative accreditation process that centers on enhancing the lives of the persons served. Founded in 1966 as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, and now known as CARF, the accrediting body establishes consumer-focused standards to help organizations measure and improve the quality of their programs and services.
 

Warner Brothers Pictures Teams with Goodwill Industries
    - Goodwill Collects Over 3,000 Pairs of Jeans During this Promotion

Friendship, empowerment and self-sufficiency are among the themes of the film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.  People across North America were urged to “Join the Sisterhood” by participating in a unique nationwide project of donating their used jeans to Goodwill Industries - the world’s leading nonprofit provider of education, training and career services for people with disabilities, welfare recipients and other job seekers. As a result, over 3,000 pairs of jeans were collected.      Each pair of pants collected at Goodwill Industries stores will be sold to earn revenues to fund job training and other career services to prepare people for job success. For more information about the promotion, just go to www.sisterhoodofthetravelingpants.com or Click on Retail and Donation Sites to find the closest Goodwill store collection location.     Each person donating a pair of jeans received a special "Join the Sisterhood" bracelet in recognition of their contribution, symbolizing their allegiance to one another -- in friendship and philanthropy.

     Goodwill was founded in 1902 by Rev. Edgar J. Helms, a Methodist minister. Helms collected used household goods and clothing in wealthier areas of the city, then trained and hired people to repair and sell the used goods. The system worked, and the Goodwill philosophy of "a hand up, not a hand out" was born. Today, Goodwill Industries is a $2.4 billion international network of 207 independent, community-based non-profit organizations serving more than 700,000 people in the U.S., Canada, and 22 other countries. During 2004, Goodwill Industries of Central Florida served over 11,000 persons with disabilities and disadvantaging conditions, and placed over 3,400 of these people into community jobs in the Central Florida area.

     Based on Ann Brashare's best-selling novel, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is about a special summer in the lives of four lifelong friends who are separated for the first time. On a shopping trip, they find a pair of thrift-shop jeans that fits each of them perfectly and decide to use these pants as a way of keeping in touch over the months ahead, each one wearing the jeans for a week to see what luck they bring her before sending them on to the next. Though miles apart, the four friends still experience life, love and loss together in a summer they'll never forget.

     Alcon Entertainment presents The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which opened nationwide June 3, 2005. The film is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. It is rated PG by the MPAA for "thematic elements, some sensuality and language."

GW Self Sufficiency Job Centers
-Goodwill Self Sufficiency Job Centers Provide Real Help and Expertise to Job Seekers Provide Real Help and Expertise to Job Seekers...

Goodwill Industries currently provides the funding for five Self Sufficiency Job Centers  through the sales of donations in its retail stores. The centers are conveniently located in Orange, Brevard, Seminole, Osceola  and Volusia counties, and are open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.  The centers are designed to assist a melting pot of individuals, from the underemployed to the unemployed, find employment. No matter what the individual's circumstances are, Goodwill's Self Sufficiency Job Centers are available at no cost to the participant. The concept revolves around three major components:

Job Club - Is an intensive program that delivers comprehensive interview skills training, job seeking and resume writing assistance.  Graduates receive a professional resume and vouchers for interview apparel from local Goodwill stores.  For more information, please call your local Goodwill Self Sufficiency Job Center:  Orlando (407) 872-0770, Seminole (407) 936-0469, Osceola (407) 847-0696, Brevard (321) 953-8188, Volusia (386) 258-8585.

Networking Center - Will provide you with the latest job leads, and have photocopy and fax equipment available to help you with your search.  We also provide a "Hello Line" that substitutes for a home phone number, so even if have no home telephone you may receive calls from prospective employers. 

Community Resources Library - Provides an abundance of information on community services and organizations that can help you resolve issues in your life. We have the resources to help, so call your local job center today!