Goodwill Industries

Vedder rocked with Who idol TownshendA recent performance by Pete Townshend and Eddie Vedder at Chicago's House of Blues was a total rush! It was exciting to witness rock heroes from two generations working side by side to make music -- and help kids.This invitation-only event benefited Maryville Academy, a charity that helps physically, sexually and emotionally abused children.Pete kicked things off with a ripping version of his Who classic "Won't Get Fooled Again." He jabbed at his guitar with a force that would make any grunge guitarist green with envy.

A charity's program to educate city schoolchildren about the importance of choosing a career has discovered that the children's unemployed parents need help first."

Mission: To provide career development, employment and related social services to help people with special needs enjoy the dignity and benefits of work and a better quality of life. Goodwill Industries in the Baltimore area started in 1919 when the first factory was opened at Broadway Methodist Episcopal Church. Two indigent employees were hired to stencil and fold burlap bags that would be sent out to collect reclaimable household goods that could be sold. This cycle of donation, processing, resale and wages remains essentially intact today.

At the Salvation Army thrift store in Southwest Baltimore, the loot beckons from the lawn -- a like-new stair stepper, wooden chairs, a dinette set with a retro look that now is cool again.The store started placing some of its best goods outside about two months ago, hoping to lure passersby inside and to unload the flood of castoffs that now frequently fill its 20,000-square-foot warehouse to the bursting point.As the holiday season begins, the Salvation Army's windfall is shared by charities throughout the region and nation -- the beneficiaries of an booming that encourages the weeding out of yesterday's goods.

Baltimore Goodwill Industries and the city Department of Social Services have teamed up to open a one-stop job center to help welfare recipients move into paying jobs.In addition to having a wide variety of programs to assist job hunters, the new center houses a Social Services office that qualifies job applicants for the services, said Fred de Gregorio, a vice president of Goodwill."It keeps people from running all over town. They can do everything at one site," de Gregorio said of the center, which was officially opened by Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke in a ceremony Friday.

The difference between the Goodwill Book Nook on Charles Street and other thrift stores was simple: At the Nook, you could actually find a title you were looking for."The thing I like about this place is it's a real bookstore with decent books, not just a jumble," said Fred Jacobowitz, a regular.After Dec. 16, patrons of the basement shop at 525 N. Charles St. won't be able to find anything. Goodwill Industries of Baltimore is shutting it down, along with another store on South Conkling Street in Highlandtown.

Breaking with tradition, Baltimore Goodwill Industries Inc. is expanding its job skills training program into the suburbs.Under the direction of its new president, Marge Thomas, the nonprofit organization also plans to open larger stores and get donations ready for sale more quickly. Making donations will be easier, too, she says, because the organization will establish more drop-off sites."What we want to do is create regional mini-Goodwills throughout the area where we can open a shop, offer training and sort and repair donations," said Mrs. Thomas, 48, who took over management of Baltimore Goodwill late last year.

It's not the past but the future that mostly concerns Harvey E. Kettering II as he retires later this year. The chairman and chief executive officer of Baltimore Goodwill Industries for 30 years wants to see the 75-year-old nonprofit organization increase donations, open more stores and train more people.Mr. Kettering, who is known as the "dean of Goodwill CEOs," has the longest tenure among executives in the 190 Goodwill Industries Operations in North America.At 63, he has received the United Way Management of Distinction Award, Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow and Maryland Rehabilitation Association Administrative Award.

Baltimore Goodwill Industries is celebrating 75 years of helping others to help themselves, a model of success in assisting thousands of disabled and disadvantaged people to maximize their abilities and to become contributing members of the community.From its beginnings in 1919 at the old Broadway Methodist Episcopal Church downtown, where burlap bags containing collected clothing and household goods were sorted and the items repaired for resale, Baltimore Goodwill has never strayed from its admirable purposes.

Competition is certainly hot and heavy between local television stations, which is good news for the consumer. But where does competition end and pettiness take over?Strange as it may sound, the death of one of Baltimore's most beloved television personalities, Stu Kerr, has brought this to the front. Stu Kerr and WMAR-TV (Channel 2) were synonymous.After Kerr's death, WJZ (Channel 13) reporter Richard Sher, who had known Kerr for 30 years, called Channel 2 to ask for dubs with color and sound.

Had it not been for the discerning eyes of Goodwill store employees, the research skills of the store manager and the help of a few art historians, the Parisian street scene painted by Impressionist Edouard-Leon Cortes might well be hanging today in a college dorm room, over a bed in some cheap Highway 50 motel, or on the faux wood-paneled walls of an Eastern Shore double-wide. Instead, the painting that was dropped off along with the rest of the day's intake at the Goodwill store in Easton - pots and pans, end tables, clothes, coffee machines, clock radios and the like - is in the hands of an anonymous connoisseur of French Impressionist art, or at least someone who appreciated it enough to fork over $40,600 for the piece at a Sotheby's auction a few weeks ago. "It could have very easily ended up put in a pile, marked for $20," said Ursula Villar, marketing and development director for Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake Inc. It's not unusual for buried treasure to be found at a Goodwill store, but most tales of fantastic finds emerge after a customer has left the store with a bargain-priced item, only to find out its true value later.

Had it not been for the discerning eyes of Goodwill store employees, the research skills of the store manager and the help of a few art historians, the Parisian street scene painted by Impressionist Edouard-Leon Cortes might well be hanging today in a college dorm room, over a bed in some cheap Highway 50 motel, or on the faux wood-paneled walls of an Eastern Shore double-wide. Instead, the painting that was dropped off along with the rest of the day's intake at the Goodwill store in Easton - pots and pans, end tables, clothes, coffee machines, clock radios and the like - is in the hands of an anonymous connoisseur of French Impressionist art, or at least someone who appreciated it enough to fork over $40,600 for the piece at a Sotheby's auction a few weeks ago. "It could have very easily ended up put in a pile, marked for $20," said Ursula Villar, marketing and development director for Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake Inc. It's not unusual for buried treasure to be found at a Goodwill store, but most tales of fantastic finds emerge after a customer has left the store with a bargain-priced item, only to find out its true value later.

A STRANGE-LOOKING COLLECTION OF folks descended on Dave & Buster's at Arundel Mills. But this was intentional strangeness, for the Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake's "Gridiron Halloween" celebration earlier this month. A quick scan of the place showed Robin Hood, Maid Marian, a pair of penguins, "Britney Spears," "Lindsay Lohan," and a handful of cowboys, witches and hippies. And then there were the flapper perusing the poolroom, the clown in the bowling alley, and the skeleton in the buffet line.

Patricia M. Pearl, former manager of rehabilitation services for Goodwill Industries who later established a home cleaning business, died of complications from Alzheimer's disease Tuesday at St. Elizabeth's Nursing Center in Southwest Baltimore. She was 65. Born Patricia Murphy in Easton, Pa., she was raised in Phillipsburg, N.J. A 1958 graduate of Phillipsburg High School, she earned a bachelor's degree in clothing design and textiles from Russell Sage College in Troy, N.Y., in 1962. From 1962 to 1974, Mrs. Pearl worked as a junior sportswear buyer for Hutzler's department store in Baltimore.

Donation cap will hurt ability to help needy Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation is considering a proposal to cap charitable donations for contributions of clothing and household items at $500 a year per taxpayer. Assuming tax cheaters are inflating the value of their donations to charity, the committee estimates that this would result in $1.9 billion in additional revenue over 10 years. Unfortunately, if this proposal became law, it would have a devastating social and economic impact on many individuals in our community.

They arrived early, waiting in a line that stretched out the door and filled an adjoining room. A father whose five children bombarded Santa Claus with requests -- gifts that he probably can't afford, his only income a disability check. A man who lost a leg in a shooting, unsure of where he might eat his Thanksgiving dinner today. "McDonald's maybe," he mumbled. But yesterday, thousands of city residents had a free Thanksgiving meal that included turkey and cranberry sauce, kale and sauerkraut, and thick slices of raspberry swirl cheesecake.

A Goodwill thrift store wasn't exactly Nicole Belcastro's ideal place for a shopping spree, so she was reluctant to join her mother on a recent trip. But the 23-year-old, stay-at-home mom from Perry Hall had a different attitude after she nabbed a pair of black leather boots by Nine West for $4. At a nearby mall, she might have paid $100 for the same boots new. "They have a lot of good deals," Belcastro said at a Goodwill store in Perry Hall in Baltimore County. "I was surprised, especially for a Goodwill.

John Krantz White, who went from the mailroom to the boardroom during his 42-year career at the Baltimore Life Insurance Co., died of cancer Aug. 13 at the Perry Hall home of his son. The longtime Towson resident was 72. Mr. White was born and raised in Baltimore and graduated in 1949 from City College. He attended what was then Towson State College and the Johns Hopkins University. He served in the Army from 1951 to 1954, when he was discharged with the rank of sergeant. He completed studies in the Mortgage Bankers Association's School of Mortgage Banking at Northwestern University and Michigan State University.

In Baltimore City Bodies of 2 men, one tied with sheets and tape, are found The bodies of two unidentified men - one of them wrapped in sheets and sealed with tape - were found in separate areas of the city yesterday, and police were treating each as a homicide victim while awaiting autopsies. About 9 p.m., a male passer-by found the body of the man wrapped in sheets and tightly sealed with duct tape lying in plain view in an alley behind the 3600 block of Elmley Ave. in Northeast Baltimore.

In Baltimore City Gubernatorial hopefuls to join Mitchell on corner City Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr. will meet with residents at the corner of Reisterstown Road and Gwynns Falls Parkway from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today in the final stop on his anti-drug campaign. Mitchell, a Democrat who represents the 4th District, has spent each of the past three Tuesdays meeting with residents on West Baltimore street corners known for illegal drug activity. Today Mitchell will be visited by the two leading candidates for governor: Republican Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. at 9 a.m. and Democrat Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend at 4:15 p.m. Goodwill Industries to hold job fair Friday Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake will hold a career fair Friday.