Response to the Country Living Magazine Online Article “Has Goodwill Become Too Greedy?”
You may have seen this article in circulation. It states that the readers of Country Living Magazine frequently respond to articles about Goodwill with accusations focused on Goodwill’s charitable status, the CEO, and employee wages; the popular criticisms are then examined closer as the write-up continues.
We believe in the importance of consumer opinions. We also believe it’s our obligation and responsibility to ensure the public has the most accurate information about us as the foundation for those opinions, which is why we want to speak on the content of this online article.
Goodwill of Central and Northern Arizona is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization. 90 cents of every dollar go towards our mission to fight unemployment in Arizona.
Our purpose is to fight unemployment in Arizona and help anyone looking for a job find the tools and resources they need for success. We provide no-cost career services at our career centers in Phoenix, Northern, and Yuma areas.
When you shop at and bring in items to Goodwill, your generosity helps people in our community get the skills and preparation they need to find employment. To ensure our shoppers are getting thrifty deals, and as a gesture of our appreciation, every other Saturday we offer “50% Off Sale Saturday” as well as other special discount days like senior day, student, and military discounts. We also have 20% of coupons available via e-mail, providing a special way for our shoppers to save any day of the week.
Mark Curran is not the CEO and owner of Goodwill. To our knowledge, Mark Curran has never owned Goodwill nor worked for Goodwill in any capacity. We don’t know how his name came to be associated with our organization.
Further, Goodwill organizations in North America are independent from one another, each operating with a volunteer board of directors. At Goodwill of Central and Northern Arizona, our CEO is paid commensurate with other Arizona non-profit organizations comparable in size.
The article addresses another common misconception: Goodwill employee wages, especially in relation to the Special Minimum Wage Certificate and the wages of our special needs employees. Goodwill of Central and Northern Arizona does not use the Special Minimum Wage Certificate. All our employees are paid at or above the state minimum wage. We are thankful for the dedication of our employees who contribute and sustain our mission of placing thousands of people in jobs across Arizona.
We appreciate your interest in Goodwill of Central and Northern Arizona and encourage you to share this information. Thank you for your goodwill.
