Cookeville Goodwill Store

Founded in 1957 as a nonprofit organization, Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee’s mission is changing lives through education, training and employment. At Goodwill, we believe in giving a hand up, not a handout — a saying coined by Goodwill’s founder, the Rev. Edgar J. Helms. In the early 1900s, Helms performed missionary work in the slums of Boston. He hired the poor and needy to mend and repair used goods that he collected from wealthy Bostonians. The refurbished items were resold and given to the people who did the repair work, the basis for the mission of Goodwills throughout the U.S. and abroad. Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee is based in Nashville, Tenn. The agency serves 48 counties throughout Middle and West Tennessee, operating 30 retail stores and two outlet stores, about 60 donation sites and eight Career Solutions Centers. The nonprofit is one of Tennessee’s largest employers of people with disabilities with more than 85 percent of our workforce reporting some type of disability or disadvantage. Although affiliated with Goodwill Industries International in Bethesda, Md., we operate independently through our own governing board of directors. Goodwill accepts gently-used items that donors no longer want, need or use. Those items are sold either in our retail stores or online at onlinegoodwill.com. Revenue from the sale of donated goods helps fund job training services and programs provided by Goodwill Career Solutions. In addition to retail sales, Goodwill depends on several other revenue sources, including state and local grants.