Please donate today - you will make a difference!

We’ll be honest: right now we’re in real need of donations (clothes, electronics, household items, etc.). By now, you know that donations are critical to our programs – what you donate fills our stores, and the proceeds from our stores then funds our programs. All of this means job creation, youth services, veterans events, back-to-work programs, and more. But it all starts with your donations.

Please add a donation trip to your schedule this month. You can drop your donations at any of our stores or donation centers during open hours. Your do-good deed will brighten your life, lighten your clutter load, and help change someone else’s bleak and hungry winter. Together we can do a lot of good – you, your donations, us, and those in need. Together we can make this Spring greener than ever. Thank you!

Made-to-Travel's Jamillah shows off her Goodwill - just click this photo to see her post...

Like Goodwill? Come become a fan of our Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey, Inc. Facebook Fan Page and let us know which Goodwill program you value most. Hope to see you there!

Just click this amazing photo and we'll take you to our Facebook album full of adorable Beacon Valentines ready to brighten your day!

If you love human services, Beacon, or just smiling kids, please take a minute to ensure we can keep these programs running by contacting the Department of Youth & Community Development (DYDC) to encourage continued funding and support for Beacon 109 & 141. You can call them at 1.800.246.4646 or 212.227.4005, write them at DYCD Main Office, 156 William Street 6th Floor, New York, NY 10038 or email them through their website here: http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maildycd.html.

Thank you & we hope to see you on Facebook!!

The Beacon 109 kids share their love for Human Services, one Valentines at a time...

“Human Services… is broadly defined, uniquely approaching the objective of meeting human needs through an interdisciplinary knowledge base, focusing on prevention as well as remediation of problems, and maintaining a commitment to improving the overall quality of life of service populations.” — National Organization for Human Services

Here’s how the kids at Beacon I.S. 10 describe it:

"I Love Human Services Because: I get to help people by organizing food and clothes drives for the less fortunate with my team."

"I love Human Services Because: It gives me an opportunity to meet new and different people."

"I Love Human Services Because: It gives me a chance to do my homework and receive extra help in my studies."

If you love Human Services, let us know! The best way is to support them in your area – right now, Beacon 109 and 141 could really use your help. You can also show you care by posting on this blog, liking our Facebook Page, following us on Twitter, and keeping in the loop about upcoming HSC Human Services rallies (virtual and in-person) and campaigns. We hope to see more of you – and however you choose to celebrate love, have a fantastic Valentines Day!

These kids need your help. Make Valentines Day count and help us save the programs they love!

To help, please sign and share this petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/mayor-save-goodwill-beacon-program-at-is-141-in-astoria

You can also help by contacting the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYDC) to encourage continued funding and support for Beacon 109 and 141. You can call them at 1.800.246.4646 or 212.227.4005, write them at DYCD Main Office, 156 William Street 6th Floor, New York, NY 10038 or email them through their website here: http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maildycd.html

Here’s a deeper look at what you’ll be saving if you help us save Beacon 109 and 141:

Beacon 141 is located in Astoria, Queens, 11105 and as many of us know, this community needs free quality after school care. We annually serve over 2,000 community residents through academic, and recreational services.

Beacon 109 has been in existence since 2009 in the 29th school district, and Goodwill has operated the program since early 2011. We served over 1200 youths and over 400 adults in the Queens Village area, a very diverse area with great need for an after school program such as ours. Our services providing ESL and naturalization information are also critical to this community.

Please help us keep these programs operating in the communities that need them most. Thank you for your support, Goodwill fans!

http://www.change.org/petitions/mayor-save-goodwill-beacon-program-at-is-141-in-astoria

You can make a difference in these kids' lives. Please sign & spread the petition today!

We’ll post more information about the impact our Beacon programs have on their local communities, but in the meantime, take a look at what the kids have accomplished through Beacons 141 and 109 in just the past year alone:

Beacon 141

• In-Sight Dance Company & Beacon Goodwill: Since October 2010, In-Sight has offered free after-school and weekend dance classes for Goodwill’s Beacon 141 children during the school year… Read more at http://nynjgoodwill.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/in-sight-dance-company-goodwill-beacon-141/

• Ole! Free Latin Dance Classes at Beacon 141: The Latin Dance Class begins tonight at Beacon 141 in Astoria, Queens and will be held on Mondays from 6pm-7pm – a great, free way for parents to join their community in fun… Read more at http://nynjgoodwill.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/ole-free-latin-dance-classes-at-beacon-141/

Beacon 109:

• Beacon’s Finest in the Daily News: This all-girls step team from Intermediate School 109 made it into the Daily News and into the paper’s citywide Youth Step USA Competition… Read more at http://nynjgoodwill.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/beacons-finest-in-the-daily-news/

• The Go Green Recycling Program: Goodwill Beacon 109 participated in the “Lights On After School Alliance Program” this year in support of the importance of after-school programming around the world.  This year the theme was recycling, and so the Beacon kids decided to initiate the “Go Green” Recycling Program. Read more at http://nynjgoodwill.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/goodwill-beacon-109-the-go-green-recycling-program/

Beacons are school-based community centers serving children, youth, and adults. There are currently 80 Beacons located throughout New York City, five of which are operated by the Youth Services Division of Goodwill Industries, and all of which operate in the afternoons and evenings, on weekends, during school holidays, vacation periods, and during the summer.

For the past three years, New York Cares has donated coats to the Back to Work program, allowing us to give our program participants warmth and comfort while they get their lives back on track. This year, the coats were given out to our Back to Work programs in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn.

Sharmaine Jones, Vice President of Goodwill’s Back to Work program, Bronx site, puts it best: “Stabilizing the lives of program participants is our first priority. Once their basic needs such as housing, food, legal issues, and even professional clothing are met, our staff helps welfare applicants and recipients find employment.”

The Back to Work program is a one-stop employment center that provides job readiness training, placement services and vocational training to New Yorkers applying for or receiving public assistance. Referral by the New York City Human Resources Administration is required. Employment services are shaped according to the background, interests and skills of each individual. They include short-term job search assistance, vocational training, work experience or basic education, offered in a structured and professional environment.

These services are for BTW program participants. If you’d like to receive Goodwill services like these and you meet the requirements of the Back to Work program, you can apply to join. To join BTW, contact your local work center for further information. As a note, BTW serves welfare applicants and recipients only, and an HRA referral is required.

For information on Goodwill Back to Work in the Bronx, please call 646-308-6300. For Goodwill’s other two Back to Work sites, please call (718) 246-4905 for Elm Place in Brooklyn and (718) 433-1695 for Long Island City, Queens.

Goodwill-operated Beacon 141 collaborates with In-Sight Dance Company, a unique program that provides free, intensive, pre-professional ballet training.

Since October 2010, In-Sight has offered free after-school and weekend dance classes for Goodwill’s Beacon 141 children during the school year.

Surprised to see your Goodwill end up here? You shouldn’t be – we are committed to enriching your local community.

In fact, we couldn’t say it better than In-Sight Company dancer Lina Kent: “Because the program is free, we’re offering the students to train at a pre-professional level when they normally wouldn’t have the opportunity. It is important for arts programs to be easily accessible for all children.”

If you’d like to contact the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYDC) to encourage continued funding and support of In-Sight’s programs at Goodwill’s Beacon 141 in Astoria, you can call them at , write them at DYCD Main Office, 156 William Street 6th Floor, New York, NY 10038 or email them through their website here: http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maildycd.html

If you’d like to see your child take the stage, please attend the parent info session this Wednesday night from 6pm to 7:30pm for new students. The program will hold dance auditions on February 15th from 4pm to 5:30pm, and the new schedule will begin shortly after.

For your reference, the new schedule will include an Advanced Class on Mondays from 6pm to 7:30pm as well as on Wednesdays from 5:30pm to 7pm, a Beginner Class on Wednesdays from 4pm to 5pm, and a Pre-Pointe Class on Wednesdays from 5pm to 5:30pm. Students will be placed based on the performance at the auditions.

Located within I.S. 141 and operated by Goodwill, Beacon 141 provides a safe haven full of unique opportunities to help its participants develop intellectually, socially, emotionally and physically. This school based community program offers free services for elementary, middle and high school students, and adults. The program offers services during afternoons, evenings, weekends, school holidays, vacation periods, and the summer. For more information, please visit www.beacon141.org.

Wonder what's cooking at Beacon 10? Read on and find out...

Last month, the Culinary class at Goodwill program Beacon 10 learned about smart nutrition and kicked off the foodie fun with a (very tasty) cooking lesson all about oatmeal.

The Beacon 10 kids are now experts on fueling up with healthy food for the day ahead. Well done, chefs!

Over at Beacon 10′s Civic Engagement class, kids were just as busy, visiting the The Floating Hospital, an organization that has helped over 5 million of NYC’s most fragile families receive comprehensive and compassionate health care services for over 140 years.

The rib bone's connected to the... The Beacon 10 kids know - they put together a skeleton at The Floating Hospital!

Imagine the goodwill these kids are spreading, both back to home at family breakfast and out into the world at large. Your support through shopping and donating makes this possible. From all of us here at Goodwill: thank you.

Do you know someone who might be interested in Beacon? To find the Beacon nearest you, contact the Beacon Unit at 212-788-6754.

Beacon

212-788-6754

On Wednesday, February 8th join the Special Olympics’ U.S. Program CEO’s, staff and athletes as they meet with their House and Senate representatives focusing on messages of the impact we have, and the evidence we have to support the benefits of our programming to our populations in the areas of education, health and employment opportunities.

We are proud to work with people who go for the gold every day. If you’re looking for a way to show your support for the champions in your life, head on down to Washington. Hope to see you there, Goodwill fans!