About Us
How Goodwill Got Its Start
Goodwill has been providing opportunities to those who face difficult obstacles in their lives for more than 100 years. Ever since our organization was founded by the Rev. Edgar Helms in Boston back in 1902, we’ve worked to follow our organizational mission – to give people with barriers to employment job skills training through a positive work experience.
Helms started Goodwill by gathering unwanted used goods from Boston’s wealthy and taking those goods to poor parts of town to train and hire laborers to repair the goods and clothing. Little did the reverend know that his successful outreach would soon become one of the world’s largest and most successful nonprofit organizations.
Today, Goodwill trains and employs workers on five continents, and more than 155 independent member organizations operate in North America alone. Almost 1 million people benefit from Goodwill’s employment programs.
Donate Stuff. Create Jobs. Provide Opportunities.
When you collect and donate clothing or household items you haven’t used or worn, you are helping to train and employ people in the Mid-South. Proceeds from our sales go directly back into our local Goodwill operations. Your donations and purchases are helping to create job opportunities for those with barriers to employment locally.
Donations are accepted at store locations and at attended donation centers. Our goal is to make it quick and easy for you to donate your items to Goodwill. Drive up to our doors and a donor attendant will greet you, take your donations, and offer you a tax receipt for your records.
Thank you for making a difference. Your donations change lives!
Why Goodwill? We need you – our donors and shoppers – to keep our doors open. Goodwill hires and trains workers and provides job training and employment programs thanks to donors and shoppers in our Goodwill stores.
