Donations Acquisitions Specialist Diane Eyles of Goodwill Industries Big Bend, with central offices in Tallahassee, Florida, gave Rotarians background information about Goodwill, its origins and its goals at Tuesday’s meeting.

The first one was started in 1902 by Rev. Edgar Helms, a Methodist minister, whose stated goal was to collect used items, hire people and train them to mend and repair the items for re-sale.

The first center in this region opened in Tallahassee on June 1, 1965. It is governed by a board of community volunteers and operates independently from Goodwill Industries International.

Eyles said the region operates nine career-training centers, 26 retail stores and 14 donation centers. The career and training centers offer education and employment opportunities for those with disabilities and others who may have a barrier to employment, such as age, no work history, or those who have been incarcerated.

In 2015, the regional office offered GED preparation sessions, job coaching and post-secondary credentialing, worked with at-risk youth in career related issues, provided financial counseling, operated a fitness center for members, offered music lessons free of charge through a Goodwill music program, and recycled computer equipment as well as diverting nine million pounds of waste from the landfill.

Eyles said an important service is provided working with Realtors and families who have lost elderly relatives, or those who are moving into assisted living, in clearing out their homes. They go in, pack up the houses, inventory every item, load it for pickup and get it out of the house. Those making the donations are given a receipt for each item packed.

Eyles refuted what she termed as misinformation on the Internet, specifically as to who is the president of Goodwill, saying Jim Gibbons has been president since 2008 and earns a salary of $434,252, not the reported millions seen online. She also addressed the issue of minimum wages paid to the employees. She said Goodwill of the Big Ben does not pay less than minimum wage, although there are some Goodwill areas that do, citing a 1938 law that makes it legal to pay less than minimum wage to disabled individuals.

Eyles also spoke to the charges that their items are overpriced. To emphasize her point, she stopped at the Bainbridge Goodwill on her way in and picked up several items representative of the type of merchandise and explained the way it is priced.

She closed by telling of incidences where Goodwill has acted on behalf of mentally challenged persons who had been taken advantage of by unscrupulous merchants. “We at Goodwill take care of each other,” she proclaimed. “I love what Goodwill does for people to help them change lives. This is the true story of Goodwill, not what is seen online.”