As America prepares to celebrate the birth of the nation, one local organization is celebrating a remarkable milestone of their own. Goodwill Industries of the Greater Chattanooga Area marks the 100th anniversary of its founding on July 5th.
Founded in 1923, Chattanooga Goodwill Industries was chartered as the first in Tennessee and 25th in the nation. Each Goodwill territory is autonomous, with its own CEO and Board of Directors. In 2022, more than 344,000 donations to Chattanooga Goodwill Industries helped 600 local lives and diverted more than 9 million pounds from landfills. Shoppers to their stores increased by 30,000 people to nearly 1.1 million.
Goodwill was started in Boston, Massachusetts by Reverend Edgar J. Helms, with the mission of combating poverty and providing employment to the poor and unemployed through trade skills. His idea was to provide burlap bags to wealthier households for collect donations of unwanted clothing, shoes, and household goods.
Since the start of Goodwill’s burlap bag-era, donation collection methods have modernized to include 17 stores in the Chattanooga area, and Donation X-Press locations. Goodwill Greater Chattanooga recently expanded and moved its home office to a 77,000 square foot space in the Bonny Oaks Industrial Park, enabling them to offer more job training programs.
Goodwill’s President and CEO, Gena Weldon, commented on the major milestone, saying, “This is an exciting time for our Goodwill…You will see us deepening our partnerships with like-minded community organizations and agencies, offering more opportunities to help people achieve success and that build upon our area of expertise.”
Destiny Morrison is an example of what Goodwill how is helping individuals. Morrison received the 2023 Shooting Star Award for overcoming significant barriers with Goodwill’s help. “Goodwill helped me to rebuild myself after I got out of prison. The team we’ve built at our Hixson store played a major role in helping me get to where I am.”, said Morrison. She was recently promoted to Assistant Manager at Goodwill’s store in Hixson, and will soon graduate college.
Kendrick Draper, who lost an arm in a motorcycle accident, is also a great example of the work Goodwill does. After receiving job training, he was recently hired as an Onboarding and Training Specialist. “I am not looking at this job because of the pay,” Draper said. “I want to interact with others and help them out. I want them to succeed in their job and in life.”
To mark their 100th anniversary, Goodwill held a centennial celebration and awards banquet for their employees and installed an exhibit featuring its historic accomplishments. The exhibit, focused on highlighting milestones in Goodwill's 100 year history, demonstrates that charity starts at home. “When you read about our history over the last ten decades, you can’t help but be inspired,” said Weldon. “We hope everyone who views this exhibit will join us in the advancement of an empowered community in which all people can achieve their greatest potential.”
