Vol. 17, No. 36, March 7, 2005

IN THIS ISSUE:

This Reveille Home Page | The Friday Program: Goodwill Industries, Recycling and Building New Lives for 80 Years | Next Social Is On St. Patrick's Day! | The Retreat is Coming! | The Chandler Report | Rotary Minute | Mercer Island Rotary Goes On the Run | Friday Potpourri | Why the Retreat? | Classification Talk: Jim Allen | Membership Grows by One (117): LeeAnn Wood | Web Fun

[Ed. Note: Friday’s speaker, Ken Colling, opened his talk by sharing his definition of the “Idaho Mine Detector.” This photo may be worth a thousand words!]

* * *

The Friday Program:
Goodwill Industries,
Recycling and Building New Lives for 80 Years

Bob Vallat introduced Ken Colling, the President & CEO of Goodwill Industries. Ken is a native New Yorker. His father worked for the U.S. State Department, which took Ken to Taiwan University High School, where he graduated, then on to Cornell University for college and four years in the military. He has worked in the administrative area of the medical profession, with Kaiser Permanente, and he has been a volunteer for the San Diego Children & Families organization, prior to coming to Seattle a year ago. Ken is a member of the Rotary Club of Seattle.

“Goodwill has been recycling and building new lives for these past 80 years. A lot of its accomplishments come from people like your Ted Ederer, who performed ably as a board member of Goodwill for 28 years! (Applause). Goodwill is a not-for-profit business enterprise with a social purpose. We accept donated goods, recycling them for resale, with the proceeds going to support Goodwill programs.”

Ken extolled the great bargains available at Goodwill. “We recycle virtually everything. We resell, we salvage, we convert unsold clothing to commercial rags, do metal recycling ... it all gets recycled one way or another!” An outlet store operates just south of Safeco Field where keen shoppers can buy clothing for $1.29 a pound. Seattle Goodwill covers all of Northwest Washington, operating stores in 12 sites, from Bellingham in the north to Burien in the south. The Bellevue store is located at 14506 NE 20th. In addition to the store sites, there are six other donation sites.

Colling said there are various special fundraising events throughout the year. An Art Auction is coming up soon and there is the much-anticipated Glitter Sale in the fall. “Believe it or not, we have a vice-president for loss prevention ... even we are susceptible to shoplifting. One of the reasons is that we get such great donated items.”

Goodwill’s biggest mission is the organization’s programs. “We serve the people who are hardest to serve: those who have been unable to complete their education or may have some sort of disability.” Goodwill offers Adult Basic Education programs. As an example, one of the important courses is English as a second language. They also offer the Education Training Program, run in conjunction with many retails stores. All of these classes are free of charge and include a 9-month program. Goodwill then offers help in finding a job.

The newest program is called Strive, a successful project begun in Harlem 19 years ago. “This is a 4-week program on attitudes. We teach how to work in teams, take direction from supervisors. Once the students finish the Strive course, we follow up and stay in contact for up to two years.”

Goodwill is all about job skills — teaching people those skills to work in a variety of disciplines or job with Goodwill itself. Ninety-four percent of the net proceeds of Goodwill’s donation and recycling goes back into programs.

For his presentation, Ken Colling was presented with a certificate from the BBRC noting that 1220 pounds of fresh food has been donated in his name through Rotary First Harvest to area food banks.

Thanks to Bob Vallat for his introduction.

TOP

CLICK HERE
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE BBRC CENTENNIAL PROJECT

Reveille | Reveille Archives | Meeting Information | Calendar | How to Join the BBRC | Officers & Directors | Committees | Online Member Directory | Short Directory PDF File | Directory Info Form | Set Up User Info | Forgot User Info | Meeting Make-Up Form | Attendance Statistics | New Member Application (PDF File) | Expense-Funding Request Form (PDF File) | Rotary Foundation Pledge Form | District 5030 Website & Newsletter | 2004 Raffle Winner | About the Raffle | Email Us

DISTRICT 5030 CLUB INFORMATION
Includes links to club websites and where and when other clubs meet.