It was a smokin’ hot August weekend in Spruce Grove filled with music, talent shows and all the BBQ ribs your heart desires! Thanks to a partnership with the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove, a VIP lounge was set-up with upcycled furniture from the Repair for GOOD program. Goodwill sponsored the VIP seating area where people were given a chance to sit back, relax and remove a notch from their belt on the finest repaired furniture in Alberta.
The furniture was collected from the Amazing Edmonton Impact Centre and other Goodwill retail stores from across the province and delivered to Spruce Grove Central Park where they got to shine bright amongst the hungry rib eaters. Some pieces even went to new loving homes!
We’d say that’s one GOOD way to rest and digest!
Goodwill and the University of Alberta have partnered once again to support students and their mission to give back to the community while they move out of their residences for the summer.
The U of A Eco Move-Out provides students with extra unwanted items on hand, a chance to reduce, reuse and recycle when their school year comes to an end by donating to Goodwill.
From the dorms to donations bins, a whopping 3,891 lbs of student goods were collected throughout the event in 2021. From books, to toaster ovens to a bean bag chair this event garnered goods of all shapes and sizes.
This amazing partnership not only supports sustainability initiatives but directly helps make a difference in the lives of Albertans.
Our programs all begin with your donations. Donations create everything possible at Goodwill. They create affordable, environmental options for shopping, which raise money for training and job opportunities for people with disabilities, with the cycle continuing for generations.
Over the period of several months, Jasper Park Lodge was a key contributor the beginning stages of this donation cycle. After partnering with Goodwill Industries of Alberta, many items directly from the Fairmont was shipped to Edmonton’s west end to be processed and sold within Goodwill’s retail outlets.
In fact, over 4,000 lbs of exquisite furniture was brought to us during this time, providing many hours of programs and services through our mission. We couldn’t be happier about the contributions through the Jasper Park Lodge.
A vibrant partnership with local non-for-profit You Can Ride 2, offers children with disabilities the opportunity to find joy and freedom through movement, by reducing barriers to riding a bike.
Even with the challenges of the pandemic the You Can Ride 2 programs helped 152 children through the Borrow a Bike program, surpassing a goal of 140. In order to adapt to COVID restrictions, remote fitting protocols were developed and mechanics began doing any necessary repairs via house-calls.
This allowed children between the ages of three and 20, who have a diagnosis that makes riding a standard bicycle difficult, to borrow an adaptive bicycle without the full expense.
For more information on the You Can Ride 2 program, please visit their website.
Peavey Mart is a farm and ranch retail banner in Western Canada offering a unique selection of agriculture, farm and ranch, pet, work wear, lawn and garden, hardware and homesteading supplies for those who enjoy a down-to-earth rural lifestyle.
By helping support our team in Sherwood Park, select Peavey Mart locations have been instrumental in providing employment opportunities for those with disabilities. The organization has went the extra mile in ensuring staff members have suitable transportation to and from work, while providing an inclusive environment for people to reach their career goals.
In October, Peavey Mart went above and beyond their duties once again, as they provided space for Goodwill to collect donations in Strathcona County. Their services gave Goodwill extra recognition in a beautiful region that fully embraces our mission of helping those with disabilities to find meaningful employment.
For more information on Peavey Mart, please visit their website.
A relationship is only as good as the partners within. This rings true with College H.U.N.K.S. Hauling Junk and Moving based out of the amazing Edmonton Impact Centre.
For years, College H.U.N.K.S. has supported Goodwill Industries of Alberta in their endeavors of sustainability and the environment. This was showcased in 2019, as both organizations received an Alberta Emerald Award for efforts in environmental stewardship.
In 2020, more people were home, either due to government restrictions or because of work-from-home orders. This meant more personal time was dedicated to eradicating items which held no more sentimental value. These honest, uniformed, nice, knowledgeable and service based workers helped these people divert from landfills by ensuring items could be donated to Goodwill or recycled responsibly.
For more information on College H.U.N.K.S. please visit their website.
Thanks to support received by ATB Financial, Goodwill developed several new key sustainability programs including:
In the last quarter of 2019, the Repair For Good program, Goodwill was able to divert 90 pieces of furniture (1,021 kgs) from local landfills.
Additional environmental impacts included, 1.35 tonnes of CO2 saved and an energy savings of 10.73 gigajoules. This was thanks to 5 volunteers and one paid part-time staff member. This program will look to get bigger and better in 2020.
The goal of these initiatives is to divert more and more from local landfills while providing training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities in Alberta.
Goodwill teamed up with the AHLA to implement two outstanding projects that will divert tens of thousands of kilograms of waste from local landfills, all while creating jobs for people with disabilities. This will impact our community for the better.
The Eco-Check Out Program
This program will encourage partner hotels to divert goods from the landfill. Goodwill will accept a wide variety of donations from hotels that will be sold in various retail locations throughout the province with 89% of all revenues being invested in Career Development initiatives for people with disabilities.
In the last half of 2019, area hotels going through renovations, diverted 17,245 lbs from landfills and donated these items to Goodwill.
Thanks to a shared vision of reducing tipping fees and waste in the Grande Prairie region, a partnership with Aquatera Utilities Inc. was formed in 2017.
Since this time, Goodwill has reduced tipping fees from $25,062 to $7,231 as of 2019. This means that less and less is going to landfills in the Grande Prairie region. This collaboration has also led to other community outreach programs like the ‘Drop n’ Swap.’
This event helps promote waste reduction by offering the community a chance to upcycle clothing items. 284 boxes and bags came through the doors and left to find a new home in someone’s closet instead of landing in the landfill.
The Career Connections team in Edmonton celebrated one year at their new location on Whyte Avenue. This new space has increased team engagement and collaboration to help play a key role in assisting Albertans’ with disabilities gaining and maintaining meaningful employment in their community.
Through an individualized Person-Centred plan, The Path to Employment program puts a focus on skill building, customizing work opportunities and job coaching. This helps support the needs of each individual.
Once a client achieves their independence, there is so much more they can do. Everything about inclusion sets them up for their future goals, as they are looking to gain the same opportunities as everyone else, discovering purpose, while participating in a team environment.
In 2018 the Goodwill Impact Centre celebrated its one year anniversary. It was a year of creating a positive impact on the environment, while providing employment for Albertans and Albertans with disabilities.
The Impact Centre has proved to be the future of Goodwill in Alberta and is home to several important aspects of the organization with a main focus on Sustainability.
Goodwill implemented its first Sustainability Plan in 2018 with the goal to incorporate sustainability into all areas of operations. This has translated into a greater diversion from the landfill and significant water and energy savings.
As a result of Goodwill’s commitment, 31,760 kilograms of plastics, 11,902 kilograms of glassware and 104,695 kilograms of paper were diverted from local landfills in 2018. Overall over 13 million kilograms were diverted from landfills with the diversion rate increasing to 81% from 78% the previous year. Waste bins have also now been removed from the donation centres and retail stores in the greater Edmonton region, as all waste is now centralized at the Impact Centre.
The success of the Goodwill Impact Centre in Edmonton has led the organization to pursue a similar venture in Calgary in the coming years.
Goodwill in the Community
Goodwill is proud to partner with different organizations throughout the community. The purpose of these partnerships is to work toward shared goals, while sharing a similar vision.
In 2018, Goodwill continued their partnership with College H.U.N.K.S., while fostering new relationships with Rohit Communities, Chappelle Gardens and ATB Financial. These are only a few of the important partnerships formed. Goodwill is grateful for all the organizations who assist with the mission of providing meaningful employment for Albertans’ with disabilities.
College H.U.N.K.S.
College H.U.N.K.S. is a moving and hauling company that offers services across the United States and Canada. In Alberta, Goodwill is proud to partner with College H.U.N.K.S. as the recommended provider of donation pick-up services.
Housed out of the Goodwill Impact Centre, this 48-hour prior service strives to be self-sustainable with a goal of zero trips to the landfill. This partnership should be extremely helpful to donors involved in major cleanups, as this partner will not only bring the donations to Goodwill, but will take the donations Goodwill is unable to accept to another non-profit organization or recycler.
ATB Financial
ATB Financial was a key contributor to the Goodwill Sustainability Action Plan. With their partnership, Goodwill was able to create a recycling program revolved around hard plastics. These plastics would be reduced from their original size and shipped to Lethbridge to be transformed into plastic benches. These benches will in front of ATB branches across the province in 2019.
Chappelle Gardens Donation Drives and other events
Significant donation drives took place over 2018, but none was more prominent than the drive at Chappelle Gardens in Edmonton. This drive took place over a two day stretch in May and garnered almost 5,000 pounds of donated items for Goodwill!
Other events in 2018 include a donation drive with Rohit Communities, an eco-move out with the University of Alberta, the Goodwill city clean-up with the City of Edmonton and an Earth Hour race with MacEwan University.
Based out of the Goodwill Impact Centre, You Can Ride 2 offers adaptive bicycles and services for children who require specialized training or equipment. This gives all children the ability to experience the joy and freedom of riding a bike.
The space at the Impact Centre gives You Can Ride 2 an opportunity to store and repair over 170 adaptive bikes. The centre also provides a space for the program to provide a fitting for the families who rely on the service. This ensures the equipment remains safe and in good repair as it is inspected yearly.
Since 2013, Over 300 children with disabilities enrolled with You Can Ride 2 have had the opportunity to borrow a bike from the program.
Alberta Reads
The free bookshelves program officially started in Edmonton in December of 2018 thanks to the support of Goodwill Industries of Alberta and Alberta Reads.
This partnership helps get books back into the community for those that do not have access to reading material. At the first book sorting event, volunteers were able to process and recycle over 1,000 books, helping Goodwill’s mission in diverting waste from the landfill.
