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Horizon Goodwill Joins the Little Free Library Movement!

little boy taking a book to read
Give a book, take a book. It’s free and it makes a difference!

Horizon Goodwill Industries is so excited to announce that we will be putting up a Little Free Library (LFL) at our 200 North Prospect Street location in downtown Hagerstown.  Little Free Libraries’ ‘Give a Book, Take a Book’ principle inspires a love of reading, builds community, and sparks creativity by fostering neighborhood book exchanges around our communities. Through Little Libraries, millions of books are exchanged each year, increasing access to books for readers of all ages and backgrounds.

Locally, the LFL initiative was started by the Washington County Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) three years ago.  ECAC is partnered with Washington County Public Schools to have 25 libraries created, and the LFL team purchased the required charters and work to provide the first set of books so that organizations could “adopt” them easily.

Over the last two years, Horizon Goodwill has donated thousands of books to teachers in the region.  In partnership with Washington, Berkeley, and Jefferson County Public Schools, Goodwill provides grade/age specific books to new and incoming teachers before the start of a new school year.

This year, our Mission Team at Horizon Goodwill is working with Terri Gwizdala at ECAC to get our 1st (of hopefully many) installed and open to the public before Christmas.  Even more exciting too: Goodwill’s LFL will be a wooden box build by Tech High students!  Terri shared that, “To date, we [ECAC] have 37 libraries established in the [Washington] county, and currently have a wait list for 14 more.  When we reach 50 libraries, the county will create an interactive map with all locations.”

Increasing access to books and providing opportunities for people of all ages to read more directly aligns with our Goodwill’s mission of “Removing Barriers, Creating Opportunities”.  Little Free Libraries help us ensure that everyone has the chance to realize and achieve their fullest potential.

For more information and to test out other communities’ interactive maps, check out the LFL website at www.littlefreelibrary.org.

If you have questions, or need additional information, please contact Terri Gwizdala (ecacwashcomd@gmail.com or 301-310-6263) or Kathy Kerns (kernskat@wcps.k12.md.us).

Inspire Your Costume With Items from Goodwill!

Creating your own costume makes every Halloween a special one. With so many clothing options at our Horizon Goodwill locations, you have the creative freedom to really make something unique! Take a vintage 80’s dress and add some simple makeup to be a terrifying prom queen. Transform a button down shirt into your new vampire costume in 15 minutes!
It’s never been easier to put your costume together.
Visit: Get Costume Inspiration

 

ghost busters costume

 

 

Business Services Employee Spotlight – Jordan Smith!

Employee Spotlight

 

Welcome back!  My goal is to educate and excite you about all that Goodwill does for our community and what it can possibly do for you and/or your business!  If this is the first blog you have read in this series, please feel free to see how it all got started from my first entry here.

Power of Work
Happy on the job!

This week’s Business Services Employee Spotlight is focused on Jordan Smith.  Jordan is a custodian on our crew at the ATF&E facility in Martinsburg, WV.  This is a very important contract for our organization and the customer has high expectations for our performance.  At this site, our crew works as a team where they rely on each other.  Communication and a strong work ethic are mandatory to be successful.  Jordan is a highly valued member of this team and we are proud to have him!

Jordan was hired back in August of 2011 and has been key to our success at this location.  Prior to his time with Goodwill, Jordan had issues staying focused.  Without the ability to stay on track, it was difficult for Jordan to find employment.  It was then that Jordan connected with Horizon Goodwill for assistance in getting a job.  His employment specialist was able to get him placed at this site and since then, his life improved.

Janet, Jordan’s supervisor, was able to work with him on his issues and gave him the tools needed to stay focused and succeed on the job.  He has developed over time and now Janet relies on him and considers him “dependable, friendly, and able to follow instructions” without a lot of supervision.  There is a mutual respect between the entire team and as Jordan summarized it, “we all care about each other”.

Thanks for reading!  Please feel free to contact me with questions or comments regarding the blog or what our Business Services division can do for you!  bmarks@goodwill-hgi.org

 

Horizon Goodwill Solar – One Year Later

By David Shuster, Director of Operations and Compliance

A little over one year ago, Horizon Goodwill Industries brought a 958 kW solar generating array online that was built in partnership with RER Energy Group, New Energy Equity, Pfister Energy, and WGL Energy. Despite the best available engineering calculations and weather predictions, a project that relies heavily on Mother Nature can be subject to some performance variance, so we have tracked the generation and consumption of electricity at our Maryland locations to see how it has performed in the first year.
Happily, we can report that in the first full year of operation, the solar array exceeded its’ estimated annual generating capacity of 1.2 million kWh by just over 200,000, producing a total of 1,412, 311 kWh of clean, green electricity! But where did all that power go, you might ask? Since this is a non-storage system, any power that cannot be immediately used at our corporate offices is sent to the electrical grid for distribution to other locations. Through a program called Virtual Net Metering, we receive a credit for all excess energy that is applied to offset consumption at our other Maryland locations serviced by Potomac Energy. This is the really exciting part – during this same time period, our total electrical consumption at these facilities was 1,346,866, meaning that seven Horizon Goodwill facilities in Maryland that are part of this program were effectively operated entirely on sustainable green energy for the past year!
According to calculations provided by WGL Energy, this equates to just over 2,000,000 pounds of carbon emissions prevented, 21,000 trees saved, and is the equivalent of 110,000 barrels of oil. Utilization of clean solar energy is one of our many energy-saving initiatives, such as LED light fixture retro-fits that have now been completed at four locations, that complement our long-standing recycling and re-use programs that encourage donating reusable goods instead of disposal. Horizon Goodwill Industries is committed to sustainable practices that improve our operating efficiency, protect the environment, and preserve natural resources for future generations while helping individuals to remove barriers and create opportunities for employment.

Berkeley County School’s Transition Summit

Horizon Goodwill Industries was proud to be involved in the Bi-annual Berkeley County School’s Transition Summit. Along with 40 other vendors, Horizon Goodwill Industries was at James Rumsey Technical Institute to help provide employment programs, and educational related support services and classes.

Click the link to read the full article below.
Article

Let’s celebrate one of our own!

Sandy Benbow, Assistant Processing Supervisor
Sandy Benbow, Assistant Processing Supervisor

Santana, “Sandy”, Benbow started with Goodwill in August 2016 in the Donated Goods Retail division.  She began as a lead pre-sorter in the processing department on Pennsylvania Avenue in Hagerstown, MD and was promoted in August 2017 to Assistant Processing Supervisor.

Sandy is originally from South Carolina and has been residing in Hagerstown for 11 years.  She is the mother of two beautiful girls, Danika (6) and Devaeh (7).  In her spare time, she enjoys playing basketball, cooking, writing poetry, and spending time with her girls.

Before coming to Goodwill, she worked as an Assistant Restaurant Manager for 3 years and a stay at home mom.

When asked what brought her to Goodwill, she replied, “Goodwill has a reputation of being a good organization with good values.  Of course, I knew about the stores.  When I shopped, Ms. Collette at the Burhans store was always very helpful, friendly and interacted with everyone.  But then I started hearing about the different programs Goodwill had for individuals in the community.  The program for single parents really interested me.  Because I had always heard such positive things, when I heard about the Goodwill job fair, I jumped at the chance to work here.”

Sandy went on to say, “I love working at Goodwill.  We are here to serve our clients by removing barriers and creating opportunities, but it’s amazing how much they have taught me.  You never know what a person’s story is and our clients have many.  I have learned how to work with individuals that have different barriers and developed patience that I never had before.”

We are looking forward to celebrating Sandy’s continued success!

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