With my retirement date rapidly approaching, I have been spending a good bit of time on a “farewell tour” of our stores, schools, and commercial services sites to thank our people for helping make the organization what it is today and to wish them well. I’m now two-thirds of the way through that tour, and listening to the stories and comments from many of our employees and students has been incredibly uplifting.

Many people have told me how thankful they are to Goodwill for having given them a second chance they never thought they would have. Countless employees and students have told me that Goodwill has changed their lives. A few examples:

• A young man who dropped out of school to help support his siblings after their father died told me that without a high school diploma or even any high school credits, he had no future. He enrolled in one of our Excel Centers and is now about to graduate. He said, “I now have a future.”

• A young woman in one of The Excel Centers told me she has severe autism and this spring will become the first person in her family to graduate from high school.

• A mother of five convinced her daughter to enroll in an Excel Center. Shortly thereafter, two of her sons enrolled, and then the mom, who had dropped out of school in the 9th grade, and another family member enrolled. Three of the five have already graduated, and the mom and youngest son will graduate in May. She told me that at The Excel Center, “Everyone strives to treat everyone with respect – no matter who you are. We are pushed to become the best we can possibly be and to continuously look for ways to grow.”

• A Goodwill retail store employee who is an alcoholic told me he had lost everything and no one would hire him – no one, that is, except Goodwill. We’ve employed him for five years, and he does a great job. He said, “Goodwill gave me a chance for a new life.” And he’s made the most of the opportunity.

• Another employee told me that when she was hired by Goodwill she had no place to live, no car, no money, and no future. She is now an assistant store manager and is nearing completion of requirements for a bachelor’s degree in business. She definitely has a future.

• An employee who has been with us one year had been a medical professional before he developed a disability that rendered him “unable to do what I had done before.” One of our store managers gave him a chance, and he told me he loves working for Goodwill. “Everyone is so nice and treats everyone else with respect.”

The dedication of management personnel to our mission and the way they embody our culture has been evident in a variety of ways everywhere I’ve gone:

• A store manager, when asked by her supervisor what she needed for her store, replied, “I don’t need anything for the store. What I want is something for our employees – a financial literacy course on site. Our employees need it, and they want it.”

• A regional director took a personal interest in a store employee after she suffered a devastating personal experience. He saw to it that she got the help and support she needed to put her life back together, and she has since been promoted.

Finally, many of the staff in The Excel Centers, stores, and distribution centers have told me Goodwill is the best place they’ve ever worked.

Organizational culture can be fragile. From my observations, ours is deep and ingrained at every level. It exemplifies what Goodwill is all about as we strive to provide opportunities, maximize positive impact in the lives of people and the communities where we operate, and still maintain a financial position that enhances our long term viability. That’s not easy to do, but our people seem to always find a way.