Page 8 - Goodwill of the Finger Lakes Annual Report

Community Engagement Starts with Community!

Our mission and community programs need your support to thrive—Jennifer Boutte, our VP
of Community Engagement and her creative Team are continually finding and planning,
inventive fun ways for you, your friends and family to support us throughout the year—the
list below names a few we hope you find intriguing!

Thrift Crawl: With the hard work and dedication of our Community Engagement Team,
made National Thrift Shop Day a day to remember! Created in 2022, this event held ticket
sales to 40 participants from as far away as Pennsylvania! This year, with the generous
support of Smola Consulting, we will have 2 busloads of excited Thrift-fluencers and thrift
shoppers who will spend the afternoon crawling from 3 Goodwill retail stores, including
our newest Canandaigua store. Follow us on social media to be part of next year’s fun since
this event sells out quickly!
Our Goodwill Summer Social: Sustainability Under the Stars (SUTS), celebrates the
past year’s accomplishments, providing opportunity to learn more about our community
programs. At SUTS, Goodwill staff, Board members, donors, and community supporters
gather for an evening of upcycled fashion, art, heavy hors d’oeuvres and more—under the
stars at the Rochester Museum & Science Center’s [RMSC] Strasenburgh Planetarium.
Goodwill Gala: This year’s Dancing in Denim brought out more than 230 guests, 10 models,
4 top level local designers with a hot and blazing repurposed denim fashion show! It
truly is incredible to see how much talent and creativity exists in this ROC CITY. Along
with 35 silent auction baskets including a Canandaigua Bed & Breakfast experience and
local boutique hotel stay at Hart House Hotel; 6 LIVE auction experiences; our guests
were overwhelmed by private wine dinner experience with popular renowned culinary Chef
Cruz of shell restaurant; ‘wowed’ by original paintings by local artist couple Rachel and
Cordell Cordero, intrigued by a Harry Potter experience and excited by an all-expenses paid
Boston/Foxborough Weekend Away, including tickets to Red Sox Game at Fenway Park,
2-night hotel stay, Stevie Nicks concert at Gillette Stadium—you will need some downtime
after a full weekend like this one!
In short, our galas are jammed packed, short and sweet—and you still have time for dancing
at the end of the evening! Please consider joining us next year at the Hyatt, maybe plan for
an overnight stay—our generous and kind board members and donors are a fun group to
get to know!
Friendraisers: Goodwill found a new way of staying connected with our board members
beyond the boardroom. With the idea of broadening our search for new members, and
reconnecting with Board Members of the past, by relaunching these closed events. Past
Board Chair Susan Kitchen and husband Donald opened up their home in January to Board
members and their closely chosen friends to sit back and relax while reflecting on the
good Goodwill news of 2022 while excitedly heading into the new year.

For more information on how to volunteer and/or attend upcoming events as a guests please
visit our website at: Goodwillfingerlakes.org/about-us/events and as always be certain to follow
us on social media [LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook] for ticket sales and updates!