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Frequently the Goodwill Industries conducts activities not directly related to their industrial employment and rehabilitation service. Such projects include Social Settlements, Day Nurseries, Summer Camps, Housing Activities, Rescue Missions, Mission Churches and similar services. Financed separately, these activities are conducted by the Goodwill Industries because the organization has the required facilities and is qualified to meet the need, or because there is no other agency presently available and capable of assuming responsibility for them.

Goodwill as Business and Industrial Organizations

WHILE emphasizing the need for the spiritual development of every individual and use of social work techniques, the Goodwill Industries are industrial enterprises. Their spiritual and social services can be effective only if their industrial management is conducted on a sound basis. To assist in the full rehabilitation of the individual, it is essential to develop regular habits of work, pride in quality of workmanship, a sense of responsibility toward the entire enterprise, the knowledge of a job well done, and the self-confidence necessary to compete with others when placed in commercial industry.

To accomplish all this, the Goodwill Industries must be conducted as efficiently as any business enterprise. But its business success must be measured by vocational progress and personality development of the persons served.

Goodwill Industries as Salvage Agencies

"SAVE the Waste" has been a slogan of the Goodwill Industries since their organization nearly forty years ago. Very little of the material contributed is waste, but all of it has finished its first round of usefulness. Although Goodwill Industries annually collects more than six million filled Goodwill bags, pieces of furniture and other discarded articles, they are not waste collection enterprises. They are primarily work-giving organizations. Their trucks do not go from door to door, but call only when requested. They do not collect everything, but only that which can be reconditioned or has salvage value equal to the cost of its processing.

Goodwill trucks made 2,916,515 calls during 1942 and collected an average of 2.7 units at each call, an increase of 18% over the preceding year -- evidence of more service obtained from gasoline and tires.

At the Goodwill workrooms, the material collected is sorted, graded, and reconditioned under trained leadership. It produced $5,661,729 of income in 1942 for wages of the workers and other operating expenses. Here again results of continued development of efficient operation are apparent, for the average value of each unit collected has increased 4% as compared with 1941.

All Goodwill Industries and other organizations dependent upon the discards of society to provide service have faced new problems in securing these resources. Everybody everywhere has gone into the business of collecting everything all the time, usually donating it to his or her church or club instead of to charitable organizations traditionally dependent upon such material. This practice has made it more necessary than ever for a full understanding of the work and service of Goodwill be developed and especially that persons discarding used articles be made aware of the fact that their discards donated to the Goodwill Industries are channeled into patriotic use, and at the same time provide work and wages for the handicapped.

Some Goodwill Industries are exploring new means to provide increased employment opportunities, wider training facilities, and enlarged rehabilitation service. These include production of new goods and contract work. Here it is important that they observe fair trade practices, fair labor standards, and remember that their special privileges as social agencies must not be used to the disadvantage of employers or employees in commercial industry. The high standards observed by Sheltered Workshops have been recognized by trade and labor groups as evidence of effective community service.

Serving the Handicapped

DURING 1942, 76 Goodwill Industries reported the employment of 20,264 different persons. Included were the orthopedically handicapped, those with impaired vision, speech, or hearing, the cardiac, the epileptic, the arrested tuberculosis, the spastic, and other types of physically limited persons. Age is the principal handicap of many. Mental illness, emotional instability, social conditions, and racial barriers constitute the chief commercial employment limitations of others. Goodwill service for the handicapped begins when they are physically ready for part or full time work or training. It continues until they are ready for employment in commercial industry, or until they can be better served by other agencies whose specialized programs will meet their needs.

The effectiveness of Goodwill service may be measured by the turnover of workers placed in commercial and self-employment, and by the increased productivity of persons whose placement is more difficult because of serious handicaps.