Every 30 seconds worldwide Goodwill helps a person find a job!

Reverend Edgar James Helms, a Methodist minister, started Goodwill Industries International in 1902. From his church in Boston's South End, he saw a need to help the people who lived in this forsaken part of town. Receiving donations of clothing from the wealthier residents of Beacon Hill, he distributed the clothing for free. He realized though, that giving free clothing didn't encourage people to find self worth or seek a better life. So, from then on, he sold the clothing at a modest price.

The concept expanded when he paid a wage to people who repaired the items sold. From those profits, he established job training programs. In 1915, he affiliated with an organization holding the same philosophy in Brooklyn and New York. It is out of that relationship that the name Goodwill Industries was established.

Today, Goodwill Industries International is the world's largest not-for-profit provider of vocational rehabilitation services. There are 181 autonomous Goodwill organizations in the United States and Canada and 45 international associate members in 34 countries.

Goodwill Industries International: http://www.goodwill.org