Welcome to Our New Board Members!

Goodwill welcomes our newest board members for 2005:

Ms. Rachel Siu, CPA

Mr. Wayne Saunders

Mr. Kevin Grace

Ms. Beverly Madison

2005 Board Officers

Chairman - Mr. Thomas Pellarin, Executive Vice President, PBS&J

Chair Elect - Mr. Thomas Garwood, Jr., Regional Managing Partner, Ford & Harrision, LLP

Treasurer - Mr. Rick Tesch, Director, Campus Crusade for Christ International

Past Chairman - Mr. Derrick Wallace, President, Construct Two Group

President/CEO of Goodwill Industries - Mr. Richard L. Coleman

Mr. Bill Cowles, Supervisor of Elections, Orange County

Dr. Elena Flom, Consultant

Mr. Kevin Grace, County Manager, Seminole County

Ms. Rachel Siu, Certified Public Accountant

Mr. Bosco R. Slaughter, Vice President, SunTrust Bank

Ms. Beverly Madison, Co-Owner, Madison Property Management

Mr. Wayne Saunders, City Manager, City of Clermont

Mr. Thomas E. Powell, Certified Public Accountant

Ms. Jeanne VanMeter, Realtor, Coldwell Banker Ackley

Fifteen students from Goodwill's PROJECT COMPASS program were honored in a special recognition luncheon on May 25. PROJECT COMPASS is a partnershi between Goodwill Industries and Orange County's Department of Juvenile Justice and the Orange County Public School System. The program is designed to work with non-violent juvenile offenders, ages 14-18, in an alternative academics and life management training program. Besides continuing their high school education, students spend approximately six months in specialized and general counseling, training in life management skills, and exploration of vocational options. Students are also required to complete a minimum of two community service projects. During the ceremony, Ms. Ruth Reider, Sr. Administrator of Early Childhood Development, and

Dr. Green, Assistant Principal Alternative Education, both from Orange County Public Schools, spoke to the students regarding their successes and encouraged them to continue working towards their futures.

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!

PROJECT COMPASS students participated in a very special community service project with the help of the grandmother of one of the students (Marleyna Bautizta) – Ms. Cherrie Holmes. The students spent time with Ms. Holmes, who taught them to crochet, and as a result, each of the students created a very special afghan. These were presented to two organizations - the Women’s Residential and Counseling Center, a shelter for women and children, and also to the Wayne Densch Center, a transitional housing facility. This community service project was indeed a labor of love. Both facilities were extremely impressed with the students’ talents and were thrilled to receive the colorful afghans.

Several employees and locations were honored for their outstanding 2004 accomplishments during a very special employee recognition banquet which was held on May 4 at the main facility. Sparkle and glamour was the mood for the evening, and from the elegant decorations to the delicious food and desserts, guests received the red carpet treatment throughout the event. Several individuals and locations received awards, making it a very memorable evening for all.

Congratulations to four special students of Goodwill’s Work Activity Program, a cooperative program between Orange County Public Schools and Goodwill Industries. The program caters to the special education needs of Orange County's severely disabled high school students up to age 22, and includes a pre-vocational curriculum taught by OCPS instructors at Goodwill. The program fosters independent living through life skills training which includes learning to cook, handle money, travel outside the home, shop for necessities, etc. In addition, students learn transferable job skills to enhance employment opportunities beyond graduation from the program.

A graduation ceremony was held on May 26, honoring these special recipients:

Mr. Michael Daly       Mr. Mark Adams       Ms. Sarah Faulkner          Mr. David Gladstone

         

During the ceremony, Mr. Trevele Williams, an alumni from the program who now lives on his own and works at a local pizza restaurant, spoke to the students about how he overcomes his daily struggles to achieve success in life. He gave them encouragement and support, and was an inspiration to the entire audience. We wish our graduates much success and happiness in their future endeavors!

Warner Bros. Pictures teamed with Goodwill Industries to promote their new movie, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which was released June 3. Inspired by the jeans featured in the film, donors were encouraged to Join the Sisterhood” by participating in a unique nationwide project of donating their used jeans to Goodwill Industries to help provide education, training and career services for people with disabilities, welfare recipients and other job seekers.

Each person who donated a pair of jeans from May to mid-June received a special "Join the Sisterhood" bracelet in recognition of their contribution, symbolizing their allegiance to one another -- in friendship and philanthropy.
Over 2,000 pairs of jeans were collected during the promotion.

For more information about the promotion, just go to www.sisterhoodofthetravelingpants.com

When you ask Christine Gumbs what she thinks of Goodwill's Neighborhood Center program, she beams! She is anxious to let others know what Goodwill has done for her. Christine had tried to obtain a job on her own. She had attended job fair after job fair and completed many, many applications. But because she had been a stay-at-home mother for five years, she had little knowledge of how to complete a job application, and did not even have a resume. She says Ms. Ildiko Pumpido, Vocational Specialist, was a major influence in her life. She counseled Christine about her goals and, together, they worked on her interviewing skills, including dressing for the interview, writing a resume, confidence-building, and organizational skills. Ms. Gumbs completed Goodwill’s job club class at the Neighborhood Service Center at Oak Ridge, where she also learned basic computer skills as well as other clerical duties. She says motivation was the key to her finishing the course. Ms. Pumpido encouraged her in everything she did, and by the time she applied for a job with the City of Orlando, Ms. Gumbs was ready for the interview. She obtained a part-time position with the City of Orlando as a receptionist. She says, It feels so good to be doing something other than sitting at home watching “Barney. Goodwill has improved my well-being, both spiritually and physically, giving me self-confidence and happiness in my new job.” Ms. Gumbs will continue to attend her computer classes once a week to improve her skills, as well as checking in regularly with Ms. Pumpido to let her know how she's doing. Christine hopes one day to work at City Hall.

A joint effort between the Orlando and Kissimmee Self Sufficiency Centers provided job seekers the opportunity to meet with over forty employers offering positions in the Central Florida area. Participants were able to complete applications and submit them directly to the employers for openings such as sales, administrative, clerical, security, warehouse, assembly, child care, health aides, nursing, and many others. Ms. Daisy Gonzalez, Orlando Self Sufficiency Center Coordinator, and Ms. Lourdes Vazquez, Coordinator at the Kissimmee Self Sufficiency Center, worked together to plan the event and to obtain advertising for its promotion. Employers included Gaylord Palms, Hyatt Regency, Sea World/Discovery Cove, Walt Disney, Girl Scouts, Aramark, Alpha Retailers, Pro Clean, Taco Bell, Caribe Royale, Orlando Airport Marriott, Orlando Lutheran Towers, and numerous others. Interviews were conducted and several job offers were made to applicants at the job fair.