Ellsworth Grand Opening?  Check.

Art Show? Check.

S. Burlington Grand Opening?

This Friday, December 11!

That’s right, the Grand Opening of the new Goodwill store and donation center in S. Burlington, Vermont, is set for this Friday.  Doors open at 9 am and the morning and early afternoon will be filled with prizes, raffle drawings, and a special guest appearance by the Goodwill mascot!

The new Goodwill store is located at 1080 Shelburne Road (the site of the former Tuscan Kitchen).  The store was constructed with several ‘green’ features.  To help reduce heating costs, the frame of the building is composed of hollow Styrofoam blocks that are made with 60% recycled materials.  In addition to an energy-efficient HVAC system and updated flooring, the building also features salvaged materials from the former Tuscan Kitchen building.  Items such as steel beams and electrical fixtures were reused in the new store.  The building is also engineered for Energy Star compliance, which means Goodwill will be able to apply for Energy Star status after one year of operation.

At 16,500 square feet, the store will offer a variety of donated and new items.  Whether you are looking for a treasure or a fabulous new outfit, the South Burlington Goodwill store will offer a wide variety of goods to peruse—clothing, books, household items, furniture, and jewelry.  Over 10,000 items will be added each week.

We hope to see you at the Grand Opening!  You can RSVP to the event on our Facebook page.

Dear readers,

Goodwill’s annual Trick of Treasurer Fundraiser is in full swing and runs through October 31.  For every dollar donated, you receive a “scratch ticket.”  Will your ticket be a trick or a treasure? Scratch away and you have the chance to win some of these great treasures:

- A Goodwill tote bag

- A Free Loyalty Card

- 10-20% off your next purchase

- $5 off your next $20 purchase

- And more!

Every dollar you donate will benefit Goodwill’s group homes so that we can make needed capital improvements. Goodwill has 23 residences that assist people who are in need of a comfortable home setting, while living as independently as possible. People served through these services may have an acquired brain injury, a developmental disability, or other barrier to independence that requires the support of Goodwill staff.

All 25 of Goodwill’s stores in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont are participating in the fundraiser.

Want to learn more?  Watch a recent news piece on Goodwill’s group homes on WCSH-Channel 6 in Portland.

Dear readers,

With the first of October comes thoughts of fall, pumpkins, apples…and of course, Halloween.  I am still trying to decide this year’s costume, but I will be heading to Goodwill this weekend to get some inspiration.

The best costumes are often found by browsing through clothes, accessories, and shoes.  Do you want be an ’80’s fashion queen for sixties flower child?  No problem.  You can even go more traditional by finding all black ensembles for your witch outfit or paint on some yellow lines for an instant bumblebee.  Imagine the possibilities!

In addition to one-of-a-kind clothing to inspire your costume creativity, Goodwill also has several Halloween accessories to complete your outfit.  We have tombstones, creepy-crawly bugs, plastic knives and pitchforks, earrings, devil horns, and witch hats.  There are also lights and home decorations to get your place decked out for the creepiest holiday of the year.

Don’t have time to put together a costume?  We also have pre-packaged outfits ready to go – you can be a chicken, cheetah, fireman, grapes (!), shark, pirate, and more.

Do you have costume ideas?

Share them with us or send us your pictures and we will feature you on the Goodwill blog!

It’s that time of year again!  Goodwill is once again partnering with the Bon-Ton stores in Concord, NH and S. Burlington, VT, for our semi-annual donation drive.

From September 16-29, if you donate clean, gently-used clothing and home textiles at the Bon-Ton and Goodwill stores in Concord, NH and S. Burlington/ Williston, VT  you will receive 20 percent off coupons toward new fall merchandise, including apparel and cosmetics.

We are kicking off the event on Wednesday, September 16, with a “Stuff the Truck” event.  Goodwill staff will be at the Bon-Ton stores in Concord and S. Burlington from 9 am to 2 pm, accepting donations and giving away prizes.  We hope to see you out there!

For those of you who are not familiar with Bon-Ton, they are a great department store that specializes in clothing and household goods.  You can take a peek at their offerings online.

The donations will be sold at Goodwill’s retail stores in northern New England, where the revenue helps to fund job training programs and support services for people who need it most in local communities.

Also!  Every customer who donates gently used apparel during the Goodwill Sale event is contributing an “Act of Goodwill” to help others.  We are seeking a million people to support this mission by donating and registering their commitment on www.millionactsofgoodwill.com. In exchange for your support, you will receive a 25 percent in-store coupon and a chance to instantly win a $100 shopping spree instantly. Now through September 29, registered consumers will also be entered into the grand-prize sweepstakes for a trip for two to Los Angeles and a tour of Universal Studios.

We have talked about Portland Green Drinks on our blog in the past (I mean really, who can forget the Green Drinks Goodwill Spectacular!?).  Green Drinks is a monthly event in which people in the community get together around a common interest: the natural environment and what we can do to be more sustainable in our daily lives and work.  Many Green Drinks events feature different local organizations engaged in green practices.

But did you know that there are Green Drink meet-ups in several towns across New Hampshire and Vermont?  Green Drinks started at a small pub in London in 1988 and has grown by the hundreds since then.  If you live in these areas, be sure to check out the sites to find out when the next Green Drinks event is scheduled!

New Hampshire

1.Green Drinks Portsmouth meets the third Thursday of each month at 2 Ceres Street, from 6-9 pm.  If you would like to receive a monthly reminder email, please contact Joe Harrison. 

2.Keene Green Drinks is held the second Monday of every month.  It is hosted the Monadnock Sustainability Network, “committed to encouraging sustainable living practices and resource conservation in the region through direct advocacy, education and outreach.”

3.Green Drinks Concord is held the second Thursday of each month at The Red Blazer Restaurant & Pub (72 Manchester Street).  If you are interested in being a local presenter or have an idea for a future Green Drinks event, please contact Barb Morris or call (603) 325-2168.

The next event will be Monday, July 6, at the E.F. Lane Hotel, 30 Main Street.  For more information, please contact Bonnie Hudspeth.

4. Mount Washington Valley Green Drinks meets in the Conway area.  I could not find a regular schedule, so please contact Cimbria for more information.  It is hosted by local Sustainability Network, which also coordinates the Brattleboro, Vermont Green Drinks.

Vermont

1. Burlington Green Drinks is held the last Tuesday of every month at the Skinny Pancake, located at the corner of Lake and College Streets. You can sign up for email updates by visiting the Skinny Pancake’s site and entering your email with and checking “green news.”

Each event features a different sponsor that presents their green initiatives in the Greater Burlington community.  If you would like to be a presenter, please contact Robbie for more details.

2. Montpelier Green Drinks: the only information I could find was a contact email.  If anyone in the Montpelier area has more information, please let me know!

3. Brattleboro Green Drinks recently held a Green Drinks events in early June, which featured Kevin Lyons of Rutgers University, who is known as the “guru” of green purchasing practices.  The next event is scheduled for July 16 at The Marina, 28 Springtree Road.  For more information or to host an event, please email Jim or Cimbria.