Goodwill Week Events in Nashville

Goodwill will host several free events in Nashville to celebrate Goodwill Week — May 5-11 — including a job fair and workshops for job-seekers.

Every year during the first full week of May, Goodwill organizations across the United States and Canada observe Goodwill Week to highlight the defining principle of Goodwill’s mission — transforming lives through the power of work.

Activities planned this year at the Career Solutions Center at 2955 S. Church St. in Nashville include: Tuesday, May 7: A Job and Community Resource Fair from 10 a.m.-1 p.m., featuring Goodwill, A&H Companies, Area Wide Protection, Insource, U.S. Census Bureau, Aramark, Stones River National Battlefield and others. More than 150 positions will be available, and pay rates reach $21 per hour.

Wednesday, May 8: Job Readiness Workshop, 9 a.m.-noon; Interviewing Skills Workshop, 1-3 p.m. Thursday, May 9: Basic Computer & Online Job Search Workshop, 9-11 a.m.; Resume Basics & Writing Skills Workshop, noon-2 p.m.

While the U.S. unemployment rate has hit record lows in recent months, many people still struggle with poverty, homelessness and lack of access to good-paying jobs. Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee’s mission is changing lives through education, training and employment.

Goodwill Industries Week has been observed by local Goodwill organizations for nearly 70 years. It was first celebrated in May 1951 as a way to encourage local Goodwill organizations to educate their communities about their mission of “helping people with disabilities help themselves.”

“Goodwill Week is also a time to celebrate the success of people whose lives have been changed by Goodwill’s mission,” said Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee President and CEO Matthew Bourlakas. “People like Allison, a cashier at our Nashville store on Church Street. Allison, who has epilepsy and cannot drive, had been out of work for three years before her parents brought her to a Goodwill job fair in 2016. She received resume assistance and took computer classes from Goodwill and was hired at the store. Allison, who was initially very shy and unsure of herself, has grown in confidence and become one of the store’s top employees.”

Goodwill sells donated items in more than 3,300 stores in the U.S. and Canada and online at  OnlineGoodwill.com. The revenue creates job placement and training programs to help people earn paychecks and build their careers. Goodwill organizations serve people with disabilities and disadvantages, older workers, youth, veterans and military families, people reintegrating into society and others facing challenges to finding employment.

Ninety-four cents of every dollar spent by Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee helps people in local communities to build careers of significance and lives of meaning. Every 25 seconds of every business day, a person served by Goodwill earns a good job.

Visit www.giveit2goodwill.org for details on Goodwill Week events.