Celebrating a season of Goodwill
In the spirit of the season's celebration of peace and goodwill toward men and women, I wasn't sure how to begin today's column.
Considering some unseemly distractions and news this past week that I'm saddened to say received more lip service than "Merry Christmas," a conversation with my 27-year-old son provided some enlightening direction.
Tep mentioned Goodwill Industries. He asked if I knew Goodwill had been founded more than a century ago by a Methodist minister, citing the business as an example of a successful private initiative that today is a multibillion-dollar nonprofit organization as well as an exemplary social service on a variety of levels.
Pardon my ignorance, but as a lifelong Methodist, I was unaware of the origins of Goodwill Industries and its obvious outreach.
Yet how many times, like Kleenex or Xerox, had I used "Goodwill" as a generic term?
Since my youth, I've used Goodwill to mean a place to donate no-longer-needed gently used clothing and household items.
At my son's encouragement, I did some research and discovered that in 1902 the Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries was founded by Rev. Edgar J. Helms in Boston.
An inspirational story about Helms' life and mission is featured at www.learningtogive.org. The Briefing Papers are linked under "Browse Resources" with a profile of Edgar J. Helms and other philanthropists. I hope you'll take a moment to visit the Web site, especially during this particular holiday season.
Briefly stated, Goodwill reflects Helms' belief that what individuals need is "a chance not a charity."
In this holiday season of charitable giving, valuable lessons can be learned from the concept of Goodwill Industries. Today Goodwill provides work force training for jobs such as bank tellers, administrative assistants and teacher's aides as well as other career services for individuals with disabilities or disadvantages in our community.
With revenues of $3.2 billion reported in 2007 at www.goodwill.org, the organization is financed primarily through the sale of clothing and household items donated by the public.
Friday I stopped by one of more than 2,200 retail stores with the Goodwill Industries banner. Locally, Goodwill is located off Fort Hill Road just west of Aurora Avenue, across from First National Bank of Naperville.
I felt quite appreciated in the shopping environment of the department store with fitting rooms and organized displays of clothing, toys, books, furniture and seasonal items. The attitude of gratitude graces every empty space.
One large sign said, "Thank you, your purchase helps someone get a job."
The organization by the social innovator has thrived, and the Goodwill philosophy of "a hand up, not a hand out" is evident from the cash registers collecting sales tax to the line of vehicles at the donation center under the carport.
Gifts don't always have to be new; nor do they always have to be for somebody you know.
What's more, as I think about Goodwill, I appreciate that its concept to "reduce, reuse, recycle" was way ahead of its time. Although Goodwill didn't coin that phrase printed on its sheet of donation guidelines, attracting donations and shoppers to purchase them keeps items out of local landfills while also reducing carbon emissions created by manufacture and transport.
The Goodwill concept fits into all reasons of why it's important to shop locally.
More than 100 years later, Helms' mission and vision to assist individuals, changing their lives through the power of work and private enterprise, appears to be an "amazing" model, even though we all might not be mindful of the depth of Goodwill Industries International as an independent collaborator with thousands of local Goodwill locations.
Goodwill serves as a model of our innovation and freedom in America to identify a need and fulfill it. No idea gets legs if we stand on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to do it.
Here's to more good ideas. Boy! Do we need them now.
• Stephanie Penick writes about Naperville. Contact her at spennydh@aol.com.