Goodwill Cuts Ribbon on New Lehigh Location

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Jan. 17, 2014 - PRLog -- Hundreds of people gathered Friday morning for the ribbon cutting and grand opening of Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida’s new Retail & Donation Center in Lehigh Acres. The store, which is located at 2825 Lee Boulevard, in Lehigh, replaced the much smaller location the organization had occupied since 1987.

“This was a great opening,” says Madison Mitchell, a spokesperson for Goodwill. “It was wonderful to see so many people from the community come out today to shop, donate and just check out the store!”

The 20,000 square foot building created 24 new full- and part-time jobs for the organization and offers over 13,000 square feet of retail space. The building is also Goodwill’s first store that is Florida Green Certified. It features low-flow toilets, light occupancy sensors, native landscaping and rain barrel irrigation. The store will also house a Goodwill Job-Link Center, which will offer employment related services such as resume creation and job placement. The Job-Link is set to open in the spring of 2014.

“We wanted this location to really have an impact on the Lehigh community,” says Mitchell. “We wanted to expand access to affordable clothing and housewares and be able to grow our mission services for the people of Lehigh.”

Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, Inc. provides life-changing opportunities to people with disabilities and disadvantages.  Revenue generated at Goodwill’s 29 Retail & Donation Centers supports Job-Link centers, income-sensitive housing for senior citizens and people with disabilities, the SWFL MicroEnterprise project, the L.I.F.E. Academy charter school, and other programs.  For store locations and more information about Goodwill’s mission visit www.goodwillswfl.org.