Goodwill seeks $1M emergency fund for training

(San Francisco Business Times, Sarah Duxbury, March 10, 2009) San Francisco's Goodwill Industries is trying to raise a $1 million emergency fund to meet a fivefold increase in demand for job training.

So far, four Bay Area foundations have seeded the effort with $80,000. The lead foundations are San Francisco Foundation ($20,000), William and Flora Hewlett Foundation ($25,000), Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund ($10,000) and S.H. Cowell Foundation ($25,000).

Since starting the "Jobs for Our Community" campaign in January, Goodwill has raised $325,000 toward its $1 million goal, but it needs to raise the remaining $675,000 by June 30, the end of this fiscal year. In all, Goodwill hopes to amass $200,000 from foundations, and conversations with five more Bay Area foundations are under way, said Deborah Alvarez-Rodriguez, Goodwill's president and CEO.

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