Dear readers,

On Friday, February 5, Goodwill hosted students from King Middle School in Portland for Junior Achievement Job Shadowing Day.  Student Hannah Stenberg wrote a blog post to share her experiences.  If you are interested in hosting students at your worksite, next year, please visit Junior Achievement.

On Friday the 5th of February, the 8th grade students of King Middle School had the opportunity to shadow and collaborate with the employees at the Goodwill Industries of New England in Portland Maine.  As a part of National Job Shadow Day the students were able to take a peek into the inner workings of Goodwill.  The students were split into groups of 2 or 3 and each spent the day with an employee ranging from Marketing Associates to Retail Managers.

Not only were the students able to experience what their certain employee does, but they were also able to learn more about the many ways Goodwill gives back through their programs and services.  The group that I was in spent the day with Jane Driscoll an employee in the Marketing field. We started out the day brainstorming phrases to put on the wall of the new Goodwill store in South Portland. The wall needed to describe how the customers purchases were making a difference in the community. One description was, “By shopping here today your helping community members empower themselves in the work place.”

It was really interesting to see how even 8th graders ideas could have an impact on the Goodwill work place. In short, Job Shadow Day was a definite success and I hope that the King students have the opportunity to job shadow at Goodwill in the future.

Dear readers,

I am excited to present a Goodwill transformation project completed by Erin Fogg, who writes the beautiful Domestic Adventure blog.  Read below to see how she turns a thrifted bench into a beautiful addition for her walk-in closet.

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I rarely go into Goodwill looking for something I need.  Instead, I look for something that will inspire, and I am rarely disappointed.

Take this bench for example.  After more than a year searching for the perfect bench for the dressing table in our new walk-in closet, this jumped right out at me at the Ellsworth, Maine store.

Sure, I had seen many benches that I liked online and in local stores.  But, I was looking for a deal, and for a piece that was the right height and style for the room.  This bench was a little bit short and a little ugly, but I knew I could fix it up and customize it.  With a price of $4.99 the deal was done and I brought it home to test it out.

After removing the current fabric to reveal a gazillion nail and staple holes, I devised a plan to recover this old piece.  My plan was to cover and tuft the cushion, add about 6 inches of height to the base, and add a skirt to the frame to cover all of the holes and my handiwork.

With some beautiful silk from Marden’s (a local bargain store) and some styrofoam that I found in our basement, I recovered the cushion.  To create the tufted look, I pulled through some buttons that I ­covered myself.

Next I added some 2×4 pieces of wood to the base to add the necessary height.  It didn’t look very pretty, but it was just the solution I needed.

Finally, I added a skirt to the base by simply stapling fabric to the wood.  After just a few minutes I had the finished product in place at the dressing table!

The total price for my bench was $33.99, which included the bench, fabric and wood.  Best of all, it is completely customized for this particular space!

So, next time you go to Goodwill, make sure to use your Goodwill eye.  Look closely at what you find and use your imagination to think of ways you can re-purpose items for décor solutions in your own home.  It’s fun, and rewarding!

Erin is the author of the Domestic Adventure Blog, where she documents her adventures in homemaking while juggling life, love, and her career.  By day Erin is a fundraising and PR professional for a Maine nonprofit.  Erin lives near Bar Harbor, Maine, with her husband Chris and their dog Frankie.

In honor of Valentine’s day and the crafting fever that hits us all mid-winter, the Auburn Goodwill store is hosting a Valentine’s Day Craft & Vintage Sale. The sale is this Sunday only and will feature fabric at $.99/yard, shredded wool sold by the bag (perfect for rug hookers and braiders), notions, vintage clothing and jewelry, furniture, and more!

The Auburn, Maine store is open this Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm.  For more information, please contact the store at (207) 783-1702.

Here’s a sneak preview of the some of the items

Dear readers,

We have two events coming up in the next week in New Hampshire that I would like to share with you.  First up:

Goodwill Night at the Manchester Monarchs!

Mark your calendars, because February 13 is Goodwill Night at the Manchester Monarchs! Come watch the Monarchs take on the Syracuse Crunch (New York). Bring your gently used donations to the game and receive free prizes from Goodwill!  There will also be a special appearance by “Puffy G,” Goodwill’s mascot!

To purchase tickets online, please visit the Manchester Monarchs.

You can also buy tickets at the Verizon Wireless Arena Box Office, Monday – Friday, 9:30 am-5:30 pm and Saturday, 10:00 am-2:00 pm.  The box office is also open on game days three hours prior to game time through the end of the first intermission.

Join Goodwill for Concord Green Drinks

Goodwill is hosting Concord Green Drinks on Tuesday, February 16, from 6 to 8 pm.  The event will be held at the Barley House Restaurant & Tavern (132 N. Main Street, Concord).

We are celebrating the one-year anniversary of our ReConnect computer recycling program and delivering a small presentation about  Goodwill.  We hope you can join us!  We will have free appetizers available.

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 local organizations engaged in green practices.

You can RSVP on our Facebook page.

We are also hosting  Green Drinks events in Portsmouth, NH & Burlington, VT in the next few months – stay tuned for more details!

With Valentine’s Day approaching, you may be thinking of gifts or tokens of appreciation for your loved ones.  It is also a great time to draw on your creativity – below are  some of the projects I have been inspired by in the past few weeks – what are your Valentine’s Day creations?

Jewelry Bust/Hidden Jewelry Box

I love this - from Design*Sponge

And other lovely creation from Design*Sponge – have I mentioned how much I love this blog?

Fabric Scrap Flowers from Greenupgrader

Recycled Valentine’s Day Pop-up Card from Crafting a Green World (visit their site for a video how-to!)