Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia and the CSRA will join the annual international celebration of Goodwill Week, May 4-8, with job fairs boosting employment opportunities for the public and recognition events for Goodwill’s dedicated employees.

First celebrated in May 1951, Goodwill Week encourages the 180 autonomous Goodwill agencies throughout the world to educate communities about their mission of providing job training and education services. Goodwill was founded in 1902 by a Methodist minister, Dr. Edgar J. Helms, and for 113 years has continued his ministry of offering a hand up to those seeking help in overcoming barriers to employment.

Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia and the CSRA will highlight its career-assistance programs with a job fair from 1-4 p.m. Wednesday, May 6, at the Aiken Goodwill Job Connection at 1015 Pine Log Road. The job fair will be preceded Friday, May 1, with a boot camp to help prepare job-seekers from 10 a.m. to noon at the Aiken Job Connection. Boot camp participants will receive preferred admission to the job fair.

“The job-seekers who visit with employers at our Goodwill job fairs are among the thousands of individuals that Goodwill helps each year to find new or better employment,” said James K. Stiff, President of Goodwill. “During the past five years, our Goodwill served more than 83,000 individuals at our Job Connection career centers, and helped more than 16,000 people find competitive employment. Each of those jobs represents a member of the community experiencing the pride and dignity of a paycheck and an opportunity for a bigger slice of the American dream.” 

The community also is invited to join Goodwill at the GoodBoats for Goodwill Dragon Boat Race and Asian Cultural Festival Saturday, May 2, at Augusta’s Lake Olmstead, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Learn more at www.goodboats.org.

To learn more about the international recognition of Goodwill Week, go to www.goodwill.org/week.

For more information on the Aiken Job Fair, contact Jennifer Hart, Aiken Community Director, at [email protected], or call (803) 649-7694.