90 years of good works for Goodwill

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/03/2021 (1887 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Plenty has changed over the past 90 years but one constant has been Canadian Goodwill Industries’ service to Winnipeggers in need.

The locally based organization celebrates its 90th birthday on April 4.

General manager Charlotte McTavish said Canadian Goodwill Industries began in 1931 as the idea of Rev. J. Richmond Craig at Grace United Church who held a garage sale to raise funds for people in need. The idea quickly grew, with people continuing to donate clothing and household items to help the cause.

What distinguished Canadian Goodwill Industries even then was that, when people came for help, the reverend put them to work selling the items and paid them to do it so they could have a constant source of income.

“It’s not a handout, it’s a hand up,” McTavish said. “We continue to do that.”

Today that hand up includes job training and employment opportunities for people in need. Canadian Goodwill Industries employs 66 people across six Manitoba locations, including five in Winnipeg and one in Ashern.

All kinds of people have proudly served at Canadian Goodwill Industries over the years, each with their own strengths and abilities that contribute to the organization’s success, McTavish said. She said staff take pride in seeing people develop skills they use to excel at Goodwill, and when it comes time to move on, to succeed in new roles elsewhere.

That caring for the individual contributes to a special environment, one which fosters loyalty from both clientele and staff, many who have been with the organization for 15 years or more, McTavish added.

The commitment has been illustrated several times over the past few years.

In March 2019, an SUV crashed through the front of Goodwill’s Pembina Highway location, causing a fire that closed the site for 10 months. Last June another car crashed into the same building.

“We survived the Pembina Highway location being shut down twice,” McTavish said.
Then there has been the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused all stores to be shut down for a period.

When it was time to start back up, the commitment from the staff was clear.

“Every single one of them came back,” McTavish said. “There was no hesitation. They really enjoy working here and that is what continues to make Goodwill so great.”

The clientele was just as loyal, McTavish said. People were in line and ready to shop the first day Goodwill stores re-opened.

That combination of dedicated staff and customers has helped keep Canadian Goodwill Industries going through what have admittedly been challenging times, McTavish said.

Yet, no matter how hard things have gotten, staff have never been laid off. The community continues to drop off donations and shop.

Looking ahead, McTavish envisions providing more job training and employment opportunities for people in need. The faces of those people are changing and includes people with social and physical needs along with those arriving from other countries.

Whatever the need is, Canadian Goodwill Industries will try and help.

“It’s nice to know these people have us to reach out to,” McTavish said.