Ambassador A Publication of Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc. | Winter 2010
The Ripple Effect
Goodwill’s Calendars are Selling in our Stores
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Step into the Blogosphere
Our business is changing lives.
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Ambassador | Winter 2010
Celebrating Success
David Lifsey, President Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc.
Vice Chairman:
Tammy Glass, Vice President of Finance Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc.
Robert McNeilly, III, President and CEO SunTrust Bank
Donna B. Yurdin, Owner Credo Management Consulting
Treasurer:
Kathryn S. Gibson, Sr. Accounting Manager Vanderbilt University Medical Center Department of Finance
Legal Counsel:
Christopher S. Dunn, Attorney Waller, Lansden, Dortch & Davis, LLP
J. Mike Bishop Asst. Vice President Pharmacy Services Health Trust Purchasing Group Caroline G. Blackwell, Director of Multicultural Affairs University School of Nashville E. Steele Clayton, IV Partner Bass, Berry & Sims, PLC David Condra Chairman Dalcon Enterprises Gary W. Cordell Consultant
Ambassador | Winter 2010
Betty Johnson, Vice President of Employment Services Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc.
Secretary:
J. B. Baker President & CEO Volunteer Express, Inc.
Robert W. Duthie Founder Duthie Associates, Inc.
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Goodwill Officers:
Deborah Y. Faulkner Inspector General State of Tennessee TennCare John C. Greer Vice President TennComm, LLC Jeffrey A. Hoffman Richelieu America, Ltd. Philip G. Hull Senior Consultant VACO Resources Decosta E. Jenkins President & CEO Nashville Electric Service Robert B. Kennedy, Trustee Senior Account Executive Nease Lukens Insurance Fred T. McLaughlin, Trustee Branch Manager, Sr. VP Investments Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc.
Ty Osman President Solomon Builders
Board of Dir ectors
Board O ff icer s
Chairman:
John W. Stone, III, Partner White & Reasor, PLC
Thomas S. Stumb President Nashville Bank & Trust
Kathryn I. Thompson Founder/Director of Research TRG-Thompson Research Group
John Tishler Chairman Waller, Lansden, Dortch & Davis, LLP Dr. George Van Allen President Nashville State Community College John Van Mol President & CEO Dye, Van Mol & Lawrence
Dr. Sandra L. Wise Campus President Argosy University
Ambassador INSIDE
cover p.4 story
For the first time ever, our Goodwill has created the 2011 Family Calendar for its supporters, featuring 12 of our own employees.
Goodwill’s Family Calendar.......................p.4 David Lifsey to Remain.............................p.5 From L.A. to Jackson, Tenn......................p.6 Sweet Successes...........................................p.8 Career Solutions Center Now Open......p.12 Continuing TV Tradition.........................p.13 Blogging Along..........................................p.13 Donations Hit the Mark Early................p.14
President & CEO - David Lifsey Sr. Director of Marketing & Community Relations - Karl Houston Writer & Editor - Suzanne Kay-Pittman Art Director & Photographer - Scott Bryant Additional Photography: Karl Houston and Dana Thomas
Ambassador is a quarterly newsletter published by Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc. 1015 Herman St. Nashville, TN 37208 For the nearest retail store, donation center, or Career Solutions facility, please call 615.742.4151 or visit giveit2goodwill.org.
Goodwill’s Mission: We sell donated goods to provide employment and training opportunities for people who have disabilities and others who have trouble finding and keeping jobs.
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Ambassador | Winter 2010
The Ambassador provides its readers with stories about the events, activities and people who support the mission of Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee. We are pleased to provide you this information and hope you will share our publication with others. Please note, the opinions expressed in the Ambassador do not necessarily reflect an opinion or official position of the management or employees of Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc.
Recent News The Ripple Effect Countdown 2011 with a first-edition Goodwill calendar.
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eed a 2011 calendar? Stop by any stationery, book or drug store and the choices are endless. But none talk about The Ripple Effect, except the calendar offered for sale by our Goodwill available at all our stores in middle and west Tennessee. Goodwill employees have been the focus, and recipients, of the company’s calendar for many years. But the 2011 version is the first that has been offered for sale in our stores. In years past, shoppers have seen the calendars, filled with stories about our employees, at store registers and have asked if they could purchase a copy. In response to those requests, the marketing department has created two versions of the calendar. The employee version includes information that is pertinent to the GW team, while the version being sold at our stores contains dates and information found in all calendars.
Ambassador | Winter 2010
The calendar we are selling features the same success stories as those we produced for employees, but offers shoppers two coupon options including $1 off a purchase of $10 or more or a $5 coupon good for a purchase of $25 or more. The coupons more than cover the $1 cost of the calendar and are just one more good reason to shop Goodwill.
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The calendar’s theme this year is The Ripple Effect. The opening reads, “It starts with you. The concept is simple, yet the impact is great. The ripple effect begins with your donations which we sell in our stores to generate support for our mission of helping Tennesseans find and keep jobs. Your donations and purchases begin this ripple effect that reaches beyond the lives of our clients and employees. A job is not just a job for the 12 people you’re about to meet. Because you give, they have a chance to be better parents, children, siblings, employees and members of their community. Because of your donations, you have made an impact on many lives. And the ripple continues because of you.”
Recent News David Lifsey to Remain as President & CEO
“I have changed my mind about retiring, and our board has graciously allowed me to do that,” was the message David Lifsey sent to Goodwill Industries International in August. Months after informing our Board of Directors that he planned to retire as president and CEO at the end of the year, Lifsey had a change of heart. From David Lifsey to Goodwill Employees:
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have asked our board of directors to allow me to retract my request for retirement. They have graciously accepted my request, and I will be allowed to remain as president and CEO of our Goodwill. Our Goodwill enjoys many exciting opportunities for growth. At the top of the list is the opening of our Career Solutions Building, followed by the search for new sites for stores and increasing our business. I have said many times that we are fortunate to be a part of a company that, after 50-plus years in existence, still faces its most exciting days. As I neared the date of my retirement, and evaluated what life would be like without actively participating with the good people of our Goodwill, I realized I was not ready to stop sharing everything that our Goodwill has to offer its clients, employees and the communities we serve.
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Ambassador | Winter 2010
As we move ahead I will relish the many opportunities we have to work to expand our mission. The spirit of our employees and the reward of seeing our clients succeed continue to drive me in my job. We have important work to do and I look forward to being a part of that work.”
Successes From the Lights of L.A.
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Vanessa Louis trades California for Tennessee.
anessa Louis became a displaced worker when she sacrificed her job and security to move from Los Angeles, where she had spent most of her career performing clerical work in the financial sector of major companies, to move to Jackson, Tennessee to help her ailing sister. “No other family members could come. I decided to make the move to help her and care for her children as she recovered from surgery.”
Ambassador | Winter 2010
Not only was Louis moving to be a caretaker, she also needed to be a breadwinner. Although she offered potential employers a high level of skill sets, the job market in Jackson proved to be tough to crack. “I was shocked because I had spent 20 years in the clerical field, and I
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couldn’t get a desk job or filing job,” says Louis. At her sister’s urging, Louis visited Jackson career counselor Casey Coatney and it proved to be a good match. “When I met Vanessa I knew she’d be an asset to Goodwill. She is bright-eyed and absolutely wonderful with our customers.” “I was always open to new things. I had been shopping at Goodwill since I moved from Los Angeles and loved the store and how it was organized. I was fascinated by it,” said Louis. “To become a part of the team, well, that made me very happy.” Her job at Goodwill has given Louis more than just peace of
mind. “It means life. It means stability. The help I received from Goodwill gave meaning to me. Being a part of this team has changed me for the better.” “Don’t overlook Goodwill, because I think the name says it all for anyone who needs help. Just ask. You might end up working at the Goodwill like me. I love it.”
This Page: Vanessa Louis at work in the North Jackson store. Opposite Page: Brenda Morris navigates the forklift through the back room of the Springfield store.
Successes Trading a Tractor for a Forklift Springfield’s Brenda Morris isn’t afraid of hard work.
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hat’s the difference between driving a tractor on a farm and a tow motor at work? Not much of any difference for Brenda Morris, who drives both. Morris is a self-proclaimed, ‘country girl,’ who lives on a farm near Springfield and tends to the family’s cows and horses. She’s also a licensed tow motor operator at the Springfield store and has recently been promoted to assistant manager of processing in Springfield.
Even with Vick singing her praises, Morris is still a bit shell-shocked that she has risen to the position of
Morris needed to find a job away from her family’s farm after her husband had a farm-related accident. Although he’s since recovered, she doesn’t have plans to give up her job at Goodwill. “After working on a farm for so many years, this is a cake-walk,” said Morris. “I’m not used to taking breaks. There are no breaks when you work on a farm so it’s hard for me to stop what I’m doing to rest.” With a staff of 20 processors working for her, Morris says she is learning to be a leader. “I like to try to fix things, including problems at work. I try to see issues from
everyone’s point of view, but I’m not afraid to be tough if it’s needed because I know what I’ve got to get done in a day and what each person is capable of producing at work.” Thanks to Morris’s tough love, the Springfield store beats its numbers almost every month. “Brenda does an outstanding job. Although the new Springfield store’s back room is less than half the size of the previous store’s center, she is always plotting and planning to manage the flow of goods from the back to the sales floor,” says Vick. “I was raised to do my best, no matter what the job or chore. I’ve always wanted to be proud of myself and outwork others, even when I was cutting tobacco or managing the animals,” said Morris. “I am inspired when I come to work at Goodwill knowing that I can help the people on my team, and I’m thankful that I’ve been given the opportunity and that others saw things in me that I didn’t.”
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Ambassador | Winter 2010
“I call the backroom processing center the heart of the store,” says Morris as she surveys the donations that are piled in bins and ready to be sorted by the 20 processors who report to her. District manager Jerry Vick, who promoted Morris, says her job is to, “Be certain the right merchandise is in the right place at the right time. The flow of goods is crucial to the success of the store and Brenda is crucial in making it all happen.”
assistant manager of processing. “It overwhelms me that anybody thinks I’m able to do this job.” But Vick saw potential, even though Morris doubted her capabilities. “I was out of the workforce for 10 years and tried to find a job on my own. But I don’t know how to use a computer and that’s when I came to Career Solutions for help.” Within days she was hired as a sorter in the processing center at the store.
Spotlights Sweet Successes
Employees, clients and employers honored at two celebrations.
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hat does Goodwill have in common with a bumble bee? That’s the question that David Lifsey, our Goodwill’s president and CEO, posed to the guests at our two annual celebrations of our employees’ and clients’ success. The answer included a bit of a physics lesson. “Perhaps you have heard the bad rap bumble bees get when it comes to their being able to fly. You see, based on the laws of physics and aerodynamics, the plump body and short wings of the bumble bee says the insects can’t possibly fly. But fly they do,” said Lifsey. Lifsey went on to say, “In a way, Goodwill reminds me of the bumble bee. Not for our plump bodies and short arms, but from the idea that a business can operate on what people might otherwise throw away our special work force, nine out of 10 of whom are here because they were unable to get or keep a job anywhere else, logically, some might think Goodwill just can’t work, but work we do, and quite successfully, too.” “Our success comes from hard work, great attitudes, and determination to be better tomorrow than we are today. In short, our success comes from the employees and clients who work hard everyday for themselves and for Goodwill.” After the flight of the bumble bee story, 15 awards were presented at the Career Solutions Impact Luncheon, held on November 9 in Nashville, which the first time we’ve celebrated with a luncheon. Less than two weeks later, in Jackson, three Career Solutions clients were honored as Graduates of the Year, at the West Tennessee Annual Dinner. Top: Matt Gloster, senior director of Career Solutions, with a guest.
Ambassador | Winter 2010
Bottom: Stacy Gibson with her 110% award. She’s with her mom and step-father.
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Spotlights
Top Left: Union City Graduate of the Year, Lori Patterson with her employer Nan Roundtree, owner of Roundtree Business Equipment. Bottom Left: District Manager, Michelle Palmeri, with Ian Francisco, greeter from our Lexington store.
Bottom Right: Doug Wright (right), sales associate from north Jackson, with Brian Martin, DEC supervisor, accepts the award for Donation Attendant of the Year.
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Ambassador | Winter 2010
Top Right: David Lifsey, president and CEO, welcomes the guests with his tale about the flight of the bumblebee.
Career Solutions Free Job Services in Mt. View Goodwill Career Solutions Center Opens in the Mt. View Marketplace.
Violeta Menjivar - Mt. View
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Ambassador | Winter 2010
new Career Solutions Center has opened in the Mt. View Marketplace in Antioch. This new facility, just two doors away from Goodwill’s newest retail store, is already serving a record number of clients. It is our 16th Career Solutions Center. Mt. View Career Solutions Center’s career counselor, Violeta Menjivar, is working with businesses and employers in the Mt. View area to locate job sources and to funnel pre-screened and qualified employees to businesses in need of employees. Menjivar is no stranger to Goodwill. She worked as the administrative assistant at the Berry
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Road Career Solutions Center for five years under the guidance of counselor Idalba Tabares. “I feel that this company has changed my life. I love selling the concept of our services to other people, because I know that what we do is the best. There’s no other company like Goodwill. Helping people, and our free services, that’s why I think Goodwill is unique.” All services offered at the Mt. View Career Solutions Center are free and funded through the sale of donated items in the company’s retail stores. As with the job training programs, this service is free to employers.
Due to the increased need for Goodwill’s free job services program, the company is reviewing several new sites throughout its territory in middle and west Tennessee, to find opportunities to open more Career Solutions Centers. To find the nearest Career Solutions Center, please visit giveit2goodwill.org/careers
Career Solutions Career Solutions Counselors Moving and Serving Clients Clarksville – Michael Thombs comes to Goodwill after working for several years with the State of Tennessee’s Families First program.
Danielle Taylor - Nashville
Rivergate – Lee Jenkins worked six years with the State of Tennessee as a vocational rehabilitation counselor, helping clients find jobs. Prior to that, Jenkins was a counselor with the Mental Health Co-op. Nashville – Danielle Taylor transferred from the Springfield Career Solutions Center to Nashville’s Lifsey Building and continues as a counselor. Delores Morales has also joined the Nashville office as a counselor. She had been the administrative assistant in the Franklin Career Solutions Center. Springfield – AJ Helms joins Goodwill from Daymar Institute (formerly Draughons Junior College) in Clarksville, where she was a Career Services representative, working with undergraduates and graduates to help them find internships and jobs.
Bev Kassis - Spring Hill
Spring Hill – Bev Kassis moved from the Nashville Career Solutions office to the Spring Hill center.
George Carlson - Nashville
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Ambassador | Winter 2010
Good Prospects – Nashville – George Carlson has been named the counselor to oversee the new Good Prospects program, which was implemented through a Goodwill Industries International (GII) grant. The grant was awarded to just seven Goodwills throughout the U.S. Good Prospects is designed to introduce clients to jobs within the health care industry and teach them how to research those jobs using computers and the Internet.
Career Solutions New Career Center Open
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David B. Lifsey Career Solutions Center was flooded with clients on opening day.
hree and a half months after its original grand opening date, the David B. Lifsey Career Solutions Center opened for business. The building, named in honor of our Goodwill’s longserving president and CEO, David Lifsey, houses our Career Solutions team and Human Resources department. But more than its being home to our employees, it is also home to a growing number of programs and services offered to help clients gain what they want the most – a job. The original grand opening was to have been held in June, but May’s flood meant a long delay until the first floor was repaired and rebuilt. The three and a half feet of water on the first floor dampened spirits for a short time only because we were unable to open the building and increase our capacity to serve clients. Finally, on September 13, when the speeches were over and the ribbon was cut, our Career Solutions staff was ready for the growing number of people in need of our services.
Ambassador | Winter 2010
The grand opening speakers sang the praises of our Goodwill. Congressman Jim Cooper told the large crowd that, “Goodwill may be the most perfect charity because it’s all about job creation for those who need it the most.” His sentiments were echoed by Nashville Mayor Karl Dean who said that even in this time of
economic uncertainty, Goodwill continues to be a leader in job training and employment services. “This building represents positive growth and the creation of new opportunities for people. What happens here will help people who need jobs, find jobs. It’ll help them be trained for jobs and help them for the future. And it is a statement about our entire city and what’s important.” Guests at the ribbon cutting also took part in a unique tour of the building. The Walk in My Shoes tour was hosted by clients who have been served by Goodwill and who had various barriers to employment. Through their stories, guests learned more about the services offered by the company and how finding a job, and earning a paycheck, has truly changed their lives. Employees, community partners and other guests were invited to tour the building throughout the grand opening week. After the week of celebrating, the career counselors were ready to get back to the business of what Goodwill does best – helping our clients find and keep jobs and, in the end, giving them the dignity that comes with earning a paycheck.
Left: Guests fill the lobby of the David B. Lifsey Career Solutions grand opening event. Right: Debbie Grant, development director for Career Solutions, with Paula Hosmer and her guide-dog, Dreyfus, were presenters during the Walk in my Shoes Tour.
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Marketing Continuing with TV Tradition Goodwill’s newest ad campaign is ready to debut.
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he A-Team’s Robert Guerard, his son, Alan and his wife, Jennifer, were at Madison Bowling early the morning of December 2, ready to roll. The Guerards are the focus of one of four new television commercials that will soon debut in the Nashville, Jackson and surrounding television markets. Robert and Alan threw several frames, including a few strikes, which brought cheers and applause from the video crew onsite for the shoot. Later that day the camera turned toward Tonya Dodson and her son, Memphis, at a baseball field. Tonya’s story of recovery after a debilitating car wreck, and of her job as head cashier at the Cookeville store, showcases what she desperately wanted which was stability and the ability to support Memphis. Her message of the power of work continues to remind donors of our mission and how they help change lives with each item they give to Goodwill. A third ad is a compilation focusing on Robert, Tonya, Berry Road career counselor, Idalba Tabares, Berry Road sales associate, Cordell Vestal and Gallatin sales associate, Jeffrey Ballenger. There will also be a fourth ad which was decided upon as pre-production was underway, when the production staff heard Robert sing. For the commercial, Robert sings an original tune created while on set and it makes for a moving and very special, ad that will resonate with viewers.
Top: Robert Guerard, his son, Alan and wife, Jennifer Bottom: Memphis at the plate during the taping of his mom’s commercial.
Goodwill Enters the Blogosphere
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ave you read our blog? It’s our chance to tell you about what’s going on within Goodwill from an insider’s perspective. Want to know how we’re going green? Mary Stockett, our manager of continuous improvement, will share what she’s doing to reduce what we send to the landfill. Interested in the latest from Career Solutions? Betty Johnson, vice president of Employment Services, has a lot to tell. The blogs can be found at www.giveit2goodwill.org under the Blog tab. Within the first month of its launch, more than 800 people have visited the site!
We want your thoughts on topics you’d like to read about. So read, comment, share, and together we can change lives!
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Here’s how to get the most out of our Goodwill blog: • Receive notifications of new posts by e-mail when you subscribe to, giveit2goodwill.wordpress.com. • Meet Our Blogger Team pagegiveit2goodwill. wordpress.com/meet-our-bloggers/.
Brief Description of our Categories: • Mission Possible: Messages from our President • Career Scoop: The latest news from Career Solutions • D Movement: Donations – news and success stories • GW Boutique: The story from inside our stores and the fashion/retail industry • Been Green: A series dedicated to Goodwill’s being one of the original recyclers and how our mission is good for the environment
Donations Hit the One Million Mark F
or the first time ever, our Goodwill had served more than one million donors by mid-October. In 2009, donations didn’t top the coveted one million mark until November. One million is a big number and we don’t take for granted the generosity of our donors. The donations team makes it easy for you to donate to Goodwill. There are 68 Donation Express Centers in the 46 counties served by our Goodwill. To find a Donation Express Center near you, visit giveit2goodwill.org/location.
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The top Donations Express Center in 2010 is Hermitage, which averages 183 donors a day, followed by Hillsboro Road in Nashville with 174 donors a day, 130 daily drop-offs in Cookeville and 129 donors each day in Bellevue.
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What’s even more important is that with each donation, our Goodwill is able to serve more clients and help provide free job training and services. It’s expected that the Career Solutions team will work with 11,000+ unemployed, or underemployed, clients by the end of 2010. That will be another record for our Goodwill. Here’s another way to think about how cleaning your closet, clearing your clutter and giving what you no longer need, want, or use, has helped someone who wants to find work. Donate eight pieces of clothing and you’ve given a Goodwill client one and a half hours of free training. So, thank you for every piece of clothing you donate, every dish, toaster, TV and toy. Your donations have changed many lives. To read about some of the people who’ve been helped because of the generosity of our donors, and to calculate what your donations mean to others, please visit our Web site at giveit2goodwill.org/successstories.
Forty Kids and One Big Field Trip I
By Niketa Hailey-Hill, Marketing Manager
t was a Thursday in November when a big yellow school bus rolled up to our corporate offices in Nashville filled with 40 students from Murfreesboro eager to learn more about Goodwill. (I have to admit I was a little nervous – I had given tours to many visitors over the years, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to do with a small army of nine-year-olds!) I watched the students jump off the bus and line up into single-file lines. To my surprise, each one of them had brought something to donate. So naturally and fittingly, this is where our tour began.
My co-worker, Suzanne Kay-Pittman, and I led the group through each area in our processing plant, showing them the life cycle of their donations, from the dock where donation trucks come in, to sorting, grading, sizing, tagging, organizing and finally to the shipping dock where the store orders go out. The students were amazed at how big the operation was and how many people (jobs) were involved. During the tour the students met our A-team which is comprised of some very special Goodwill employees who have various disabilities. Case manager Jonathan Kelsey and supervisor Kirk Johnson talked with the students about people with disabilities, the issues they face, and most importantly focused on what they CAN do opposed to what they can’t. (This was a popular part of the tour.) We ended the tour at our Career Solutions center across the street from our processing plant on Herman Street, where the students saw the essence of our mission – helping people with employment and training. As we visited the classrooms, computer labs and life skills room, I could see they really got it! They understood the things they no longer needed or wanted helped people learn computer skills, resume-building, interview and basic job-searching skills which ultimately helps them get a job. Forty students left that day with a better understanding of Goodwill’s mission, and I was reminded how fun, compassionate and smart nine-year-olds can be. What was I so nervous about? After all, the model is quite simple, it’s the impact that is so great! Monday morning I came in to work to find a stack of homemade thank you cards from the students. How could my week have started any better? And, how wonderful to be reminded that a child’s perspective isn’t so different than mine.
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(Take a look at a few of the Thank You Notes on the back cover, hand-made by the students after their visit to our Goodwill.)
Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc. | 1015 Herman St. | Nashville | TN | 37208 Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage
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Ambassador | Winter 2010
Nashville, TN Permit No. 2009
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