Goodwill Industries - EKL
Goodwill Industries - Essex Kent LambtonIn 2018, Goodwill Industries – Essex Kent Lambton is celebrating 85 years of service to the community. “As we celebrate this anniversary, this is an opportunity to look back on some of the successes that we’ve seen over the years,” explains CEO Kevin Smith. In 2008, Goodwill was recognized with two local awards for its work. In the spring the organization received the Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Business Achievement Award in the not for profit category. The same year, Goodwill was awarded the Suncor Sustainability Award. “Those earlier awards were very important to our organization.”
Goodwill’s business is divided along two main lines. In the Workforce Development (WFD) Program, the Goodwill Career Centres provide a wide range of services for job seekers and the Goodwill Connections staff teach life skills to participants with developmental disabilities. In the Donated Goods and Retail (DGR) Program, they employ people in the Attended Donation Centres (ADCs) and Retail Stores to collect and process donated goods. “We create jobs every time someone donates at one of our ADCs. We have 12 located through Essex, Kent and Lambton Counties. We train people on all aspects of retail in our four retail stores, including our Bookstore in Windsor.”
In the DGR program, they are celebrating three years in a row of winning the Growing the Business Comparable Growth Award from the Goodwill Industries International office. This award recognizes Goodwill operations with the highest rate of growth in their existing retail footprint over the previous year. “This is a very exciting award for our organization because it reflects the hard work of the entire DRG Team, from the cashiers and production staff at the retail stores, to the staff accepting donations at our Attended Donation Centres, to our transportation team and our Recycling Centre associates.”
The WFD Team is also honoring some recent accolades. In 2016, they were awarded Goodwill Industries International’s Mission Support Mission Integration Award, which recognizes the investment in career center services that are jointly funded by government resources and Goodwill investment. The Sarnia Career Centre is ranked #1 among Canadian Goodwills for people served and placed per 100,000 population. “These awards highlight not only the tremendous dedication of the entire Goodwill team, but also the community support for our work.”
Alongside the individual DGR and WFD awards, the entire organization is celebrating a recent partnership. In 2017, Goodwill teamed up with the Celebration of Lights Committee to restore the Front Street Candle Arch. A staff member teamed up with a committee member to learn the skills necessary to do the repair work. “Through our Register Round Up Program, the wages to support a staff member to work on this project were covered. This truly was a team effort.” Looking to the future, Smith hopes to support many more community projects. “Anytime we can teach someone new skills and do something to benefit the community, we want to be involved. That is how we fulfill our mission: changing people’s lives through the power of work.”
Related Stories
Olive's Casual Cuisine
Stephanie Grant and Jane Huggett have a rather unusual business relationship that seems to work perfectly for them. Stephanie, 42, and Jane, 64, began working together as waitresses at Olive's Casual Cuisine in Sarnia when the restaurant opened in 2001. When the original owner Olive Archibald deci
One Tooth: Active Wear
It all started with a beautiful jacket. Sisters-in-law Patti Jo Pumple and Heather Park were attending a boot camp in Brights Grove and when they saw a woman wearing a very stylish, athletic jacket, they had to know where she found it. "I went home and looked up the company, One Tooth," and
Kernels Popcorn
Justin Hayes already had plenty of customer service experience when he opened his own business. His father owned a Shopper’s Drug Mart and Sam the Record Man. “I worked at both Shopper’s and Sam’s, so I learned how to treat custom...
Guardian Tree Systems Inc
Mike Raaymaker learned about trees from his father, Martin Raaymaker, who founded Raaymaker and Sons Tree Service in 1957. After 20 years in the business, Martin retired and Mike’s older brother John took over the business. “I gre...
Related Stories
The Inn of the Good Shepherd
The Inn of the Good Shepherd was founded in 1981 by a group from St. John's Anglican Church on Devine Street, in Sarnia's south end, who became concerned with the growing needs of the disadvantaged in the area. When The Inn started, they quickly realized that the need was much greater than th
Leaping Lizards Boutique
It took becoming a grandmother for Liz Larkin to find her career path. Our daughter Emily became pregnant with our twin grandsons and when they were first born, she was buying cute onesies from people and paying upwards of $30 for customized onesies, Liz says. She said to me, "If you buy a
Student Kirsten Vandenheuvel was all set to work her summer job in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Suddenly the job disappeared and Kirsten needed to come up with a Plan B. "I was scrolling through Facebook and came across an ad for something called Summer Company," Kirsten recalls. "That
Pathways Health Centre For Children
Long before 1950, Rotarians and the Sarnia community recognized the need for local therapy in Sarnia-Lambton for children with physical disabilities. That first year, the Rotary Club provided services to 18 children in church halls and basements. 68 years later, Pathways Health Centre for Children a
Own a local business in Sarnia-Lambton?
Your neighbours already want to spend money here. We just make it easy.
Become a #local Partner and we pay you 100% of every gift card members spend with you. It costs you nothing to join.
Free. Takes about three minutes.
