Goodwill News: April 2022

April is Earth Month

Our thrift stores in Burlington and Oakville serve an important environmental mission: We enable our communities to reuse, repurpose, and recycle clothing and household items.

The average person has 100 items of clothing. Manufacturing them uses a year’s worth of drinking water for 500 people!

Donating to and shopping at Goodwill reduces water consumption, carbon footprint, and land use. Consider marking Earth Month by cleaning out your closets and donating to Goodwill. You’ll feel lighter and you’ll be contributing to a greener community.

Find a Donation Centre

Town of Oakville’s Spring Donation

Mark Saturday, May 7 on your calendar for the Town of Oakville’s Spring donation event. We will be on hand to receive all clothing donations, and other organizations will be accepting everything from food to recreation supplies, books, and hygiene products.

Spring Donation Event

Retail Promotions

Our stores also enable people to reduce their new goods purchases so while you’re at Goodwill donating, think about updating your wardrobe with fabulous finds.

Every week a new tag colour is on sale for 50% off and seniors also get 10% off everyday.

Find a Retail Store

New Employment and Skills Training Programs

We’re delighted to be launching two new programs, funded by Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development.

Successful Women In advanced Manufacturing (SWIM):

This is a 6-week program that incorporates essential, technical, and pre-employment training to provide rapid upskilling for women. A paid placement will start after the skills training. For manufacturing employers, SWIM will deliver a ready pool of candidates.

To learn more about this program, contact our Job Development team members at swim@goodwillonline.ca or 905-818-5913.

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Food And Beverage Skills Training (FAST):

This combines a 4-week skills training program with a paid placement. Technical and soft skills modules prepare participants for the challenges and opportunities that arise with finding and maintaining employment in the growing Food and Beverage sector.

To learn more about this program, contact our Job Development team members at fast@goodwillonline.ca or 905-818-5913.

Financial and mental health supports are available to program participants in both programs and both are free.

Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant

This month we’re wrapping up our year-long Ontario Trillium Foundation grant for community food. This program has allowed us to provide 27,500 hot meals to Hamiltonians experiencing food insecurity. Preparing the meals also allowed us to continue training job seekers in food service.

And capital dollars in the grant provided 60 microwaves to meal recipients along with kitchen improvements – including a triple sink, a stove and fryer, wall ovens, and a handwashing station – that will help us get this part of our operations back on a stable footing after the café and catering business was lost during COVID. Thank you Trillium!

Goodwill Amity in the News

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Goodwill’s Training and Development Specialist, Jacquie Daniel, presented at HRD (Human Resources Director Canada) Magazine’s Learning and Development Summit on March 23. Jacquie spoke about how Goodwill’s Mission, Vision, and Values guided our actions throughout COVID, including in the ways we worked to support our teams.

Goodwill Amity appeared on the front page of Mountain News on February 24, in an article about the ways the pandemic has changed the labour market, for employers and job seekers alike.

Read the Article

Contribute to Changing Lives

You can help someone overcome barriers to employment with a gift to Goodwill Amity. Your donation will provide the support needed to learn new skills, prepare for and secure meaningful work – a powerful gift that can transform lives and positively impact our community.

DONATE TODAY