FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                 

Contact: Brenna Brelie
Marketing Communications Generalist
Direct: (651) 379-5818
bbrelie@goodwilleasterseals.org

GOODWILL/EASTER SEALS MINNESOTA NAMED GOODWILL® ADVOCACY LEADER
Goodwill/Easter Seals Minnesota (St. Paul) Honored at Goodwill Industries International Advocacy Day Event

April 28, 2010 -Rockville, MD – Goodwill Industries International is pleased to honor Goodwill/Easter Seals Minnesota (Minneapolis) as its Advocacy Leader for 2010.

The award recognizes a Goodwill® agency that has demonstrated leadership and commitment to Goodwill’s policy and advocacy efforts. The agency is also recognized for its ability to effectively influence policy by its relationships with federal and state policymakers.

Goodwill/Easter Seals Minnesota is being awarded for its activism in voter registration drives, education efforts and candidate forums representing people with disabilities as well as people with a criminal background. Goodwill/Easter Seals has also been instrumental in its involvement with coalition groups representing people with disabilities, people with low-income levels and retailers.

“Under the leadership of Michael Wirth-Davis, Goodwill/Easter Seals Minnesota has spearheaded a variety of issues on the state level including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work experience to Extended Employment as well as programs for people reintegrating into society,” said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. “The agency is being awarded because its staff is dedicated to making public policy a priority.”

The agency’s activism efforts have been extremely influential and noticed by several Members of Congress and state policymakers who have visited the agency.

At a reception in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, April 27, Deanna Smiley Gulliford, Director of Community Affairs, Goodwill/Easter Seals Minnesota, accepted the award on behalf of her agency. The reception was part of Goodwill Industries International’s fourth Advocacy Day — “Invest in the American Worker.”

ABOUT GOODWILL INDUSTRIES INTERNATIONAL

Goodwill Industries International is a network of 180 community-based, independent agencies in the United States, Canada, and 13 other countries. Goodwill is one of the nation’s top five most valuable and recognized nonprofit brands as well as a leading social services enterprise (Source:  Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100, 2009). Goodwill agencies are innovative and sustainable social enterprises that fund job training programs, employment placement services and other community-based programs by selling donated clothing and household items in more than 2,400 retail stores and online at www.shopgoodwill.com. Local Goodwill agencies also build revenue and create jobs by contracting with businesses and government to provide a wide range of commercial services, including packaging and assembly, food service preparation and document imaging and shredding. In 2009, nearly 2 million people in the United States and Canada benefited from Goodwill's career services. Goodwill channels 83 percent of its revenues directly into its programs and services. To find your local Goodwill, use the online locator at www.goodwill.org or call (800) 741-0186.

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