ROCKVILLE, Md., May 5, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Goodwill Industries® provided job placement and career services to 9.8 million people in 2013, up 46 percent from the 6.7 million people served in 2012. Goodwill is the leading social services enterprise serving people with disabilities and disadvantages. Every year since 1951, Goodwill agencies across the United States and Canada have marked the first full week of May as Goodwill Industries Week, a commemoration that celebrates new jobs and changed lives.
"Goodwill's model has been connecting people to the world of work since 1902," said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. "The money raised from the sale of donated items goes to fund skills training, job placement and community strengthening services around the world while simultaneously leveraging our business infrastructure to create jobs and deliver on our mission."
Goodwill's community-based headquarter agencies are sustainable social enterprises that fund career services and integrated programs that are uniquely customized to meet the needs of job seekers. Goodwill serves people from all backgrounds, including youth, seniors, veterans reintegrating into society, people with criminal backgrounds, and anyone with disabilities or disadvantaging conditions that make finding and keeping jobs difficult. Goodwill's community programs are funded by selling donated clothes, household items and other goods at Goodwill stores and online, as well as through contract services, private and public grants, and individual giving.
In 2013, Goodwill total revenue topped $5.1 billion.More than 83 percent of those funds went directly toward supporting and growing employment placement programs and other services - including financial literacy, youth mentoring and transportation - for people in communities around the world. In addition, the organization employed 122,154 people - 8,765 more than 2012 - in its stores and commercial services. Goodwill also placed people in a variety of business ventures and high-growth industries. These fields included banking, education and social services, heath care, and hospitality.
Last year, 261,875 people (up 20 percent over 2012) in the United States and Canada obtained meaningful employment as a result of Goodwill career services. Collectively, these employees earned more than $4.4 billion in salaries and wages and contributed to their communities as productive, tax-paying citizens.
This Goodwill Industries Week, more than 50 Goodwill agencies are also hosting 236 career fair events to provide opportunities for people who are unemployed and underemployed as well as those looking to change their career paths - 100 more events than were held during last year's Goodwill Industries Week.
"Every 27 seconds of every business day, someone finds a job through Goodwill. Every 3 seconds, another person accesses Goodwill opportunities to build careers and strong families," said Gibbons. "Goodwill is generating opportunities for people to build brighter futures for themselves and their families."
ABOUT GOODWILL INDUSTRIES INTERNATIONAL
Goodwill Industries International is a network of 165 community-based agencies in the United States and Canada with a presence in 14 other countries. Goodwill agencies are innovative and sustainable social enterprises that fund job training programs, employment placement services and other community-based programs by selling donated clothing and household items in more than 2,900 stores and online at shopgoodwill.com®. Local Goodwill agencies also build revenue and create jobs by contracting with businesses and government to provide a wide range of commercial services, including packaging and assembly, food service preparation, and document imaging and shredding. In 2013, more than 9.8 million people in the United States and Canada benefited from Goodwill's career services. Goodwill channels 83 percent of its revenues directly into its programs and services. To find a Goodwill location near you, use the online locator at http://goodwill.org, or call (800) GOODWILL. Follow us on Twitter: @GoodwillIntl and @GoodwillCapHill, and find us on Facebook: GoodwillIntl.
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SOURCE Goodwill Industries International
