It was December 31, one of the busiest days for Goodwill as individuals bring their donations to secure their final tax deductions for the year.  It was a cold, yet clear, beautiful day in New Mexico and traffic to our Coors location was bustling, and getting busier as it came closer to closing time.  The community, as always had been generous in donating to support our mission, and we had some fairly large donations made during the day that is what I was expecting from the large SUV pulling up. Dad was driving, Mom riding shotgun and two young boys in car seats in the back seat.
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As they slowly pulled forward to make their donation, I approached the passenger door and greeted the mom, “Hello, thank you for stopping by Goodwill today, are you making a donation?”  She replied, “we donate all the time here, today my son wants to talk to you,” she then opened the back door and there standing up from his car seat, was a young man who appeared to be about four years old. He greeted me with an outstretched arm holding a 1 ½ high rubber dinosaur this by the tail between his thumb and index finger.  

I said, “That is very cool young man” and he said, “I want to donate it, so another little boy has something to play with, this is my favorite…”  As I looked at him in awe, with a quick glance over at his mom as well, I said “buddy, that is the number one best donation we have received all day, and I cannot thank you enough for caring about others as you do. And mom and dad, thank you both for not only driving him over here but for inspiring and encouraging him to share and care about others.”  They both said “you’re welcome,” got secured in their seats and we waved at each other as they drove away, knowing they would be returning.

I stepped back from the vehicle and told everyone what had just happened. This little dinosaur just spoke volumes, and everyone at Goodwill is grateful to this young man for his heartfelt donation. 

​John Lea served our country in the United States Army. He was unemployed, struggling with the loss of his mother, and living in her home until it foreclosed when he came into Goodwill. John has excellent experience in customer service and classifies himself as a people person. 
 
While participating in HVRP John took training in Resume Building, Interview Skills, Job Retention, Financial Management, and participated in Job Club. John maintained excellent communication with his Case Manager and followed through with job leads, service referrals, and verbalized any concerns he had. He took the opportunity to be part of TrialWorks Retail where John received advanced retraining on customer service skills. John did an excellent job in this training program and completed it successfully.
 
During his participation in TrialWorks, John attended a hiring event at Goodwill Corporate Office held by Lowe's Contact Center.  A  preliminary interview was conducted and shortly after, an official interview. John received good news and was offered full-time employment with Lowe's Contact Center. 
 
His next goal is to obtain housing. With as much success as John has had in the past few months, there is no doubt that he will accomplish this goal very soon!