VP of Community Engagement Jennifer Boutte discusses how your holiday shopping can help the community!
Holiday shopping can be stressful, costly, and time consuming. What is one way to tackle holiday shopping in one stop, while supporting your local community? Shop at Goodwill! Goodwill has everything from apparel, furniture, household items, games, puzzles, you name it! "You can find something for everybody while you shop our Goodwill stores!" says Jennifer.
Most people know Goodwill only for our retail stores, but we are so much more than a store. "The good thing about shopping at our stores is that when you make a purchase, you are doing GOOD in the lives of people in the communities that you live in" says Jennifer. Ninety cents of every dollar spent at Goodwill of the Finger Lakes stores is invested into our mission programs:
211/LIFE LINE, which provides information and referral services, crisis intervention, and suicide prevention around the clock;
Good Neighbor, which redistributes donations to people in need in our local communities while providing referral and connections to human services;
Goodwill Vision Enterprises, which serves individuals who are blind and visually impaired by providing Vision Rehabilitation services, workforce development training, and more.
What does Jennifer want for Christmas? "I want a beach vacation! But, on behalf of our organization, we want your continued support. We want your donations, your involvement, your volunteerism. We want you to recognize us for the good work that we do, and we welcome you to be a part of it."
Goodwill of the Finger Lakes is a not-for-profit organization supporting the Rochester and Syracuse area communities. Headquartered in Rochester, NY, Goodwill of the Finger Lakes along with Goodwill Vision Enterprises (formerly ABVI) have a very long and successful history of creating job opportunities and serving the community through the Good Neighbor program, 211/LIFE LINE, and our vision services. In addition, we have several Goodwill thrift store locations offering second-hand clothing for men, women, and children as well as home goods and other accessories.