Goodwill has a presence throughout the Grand Strand

Jason Harrison greets Lenell Black of Loris with a cheerful hello when she wheels her cart to a checkout counter at the Goodwill store in Little River.

“I love Jason because he’s always so friendly and helpful,” Black says.

“Every day is a good day,” Harrison answers. An employee for the past three years, his work ethic and positive attitude helped earn him Palmetto Goodwill’s 2016 Goodwill Works! award.

“I love working here,” the 36-year-old says. “I couldn’t ask for a better job.”

Goodwill gave Harrison a chance at holding more than a seasonal job when other employers wouldn’t. The man has disabilities due to a near-death auto accident in 1997 when he was 17 and a high school junior at the Academy for Arts, Science and Technology.

“I’m not complaining one bit,” Harrison says. “I’m still living.”

“Goodwill has been very good to Jason,” says his father, Jim Harrison. “They don’t see disabilities or limitations. They see who the person is. People with limitations will give 100 percent of what they have. They give the best they can.”

Store Associate Denean Talarico of Longs hangs clothes and distributes merchandise to the proper section at Goodwill in Little River. She graduated from North Myrtle Beach High School and the LIFE program for people with disabilities at Coastal Carolina University.

“I like to help the customers and have everyone smile and have a better day,” the 26 year-old says. “I like to cheer them up.”

“She wanted a job,” says her mother, Karen Talarico. “She’s the first girl to graduate from the LIFE program.”

The Goodwill Website explains that its mission started in 1902 in Boston when Rev. Edgar Helms, a Methodist minister, collected used household goods and clothing then trained and hired people to mend and repair them. The goods were then resold or given to the people who repaired them.

Included in the mission statement is “Helping people achieve their full potential through the dignity and power of work.” This slogan is printed on T-shirts employees wear as a constant reminder to them and customers.

The first Goodwill store in South Carolina opened in 1973 in Greenville. Today its retail stores and Job Link Centers dot the Grand Strand, employing 295 people in Horry and Georgetown counties.

Rick Shelley, director of Mission Services in the Myrtle Beach area, says that donations are accepted but few items are repaired because the practice is no longer cost effective. On the other hand, Job Link Centers fulfill Goodwill’s mission because they focus on education, training and employment. Four Job Link Centers are in Horry County and one is in Georgetown County while five retail stores are in Horry County and two in Georgetown.

Major barriers to employment are lack of education and lack of skills, Shelley says. Goodwill partners with adult education centers to eliminate these barriers. Local businesses in turn provide jobs. “We instill in people that they have the ability to be successful,” Shelley says. “Approximately 90 percent of every dollar received goes to the mission.”

Kaley Briesmaster, public relations officer for Palmetto Goodwill, explains in an email that Palmetto Goodwill serves 18 South Carolina counties, including Horry and Georgetown, and is one of 165 independent Goodwill agencies in the U.S. and Canada. The numbers of people served are impressive.

January through August 2016 in Horry and Georgetown counties:

▪ 3,229 in Job Link Centers

▪ 595 placed in jobs

▪ 133 attended on-the-job training

▪ 529 attended classes

In the 18 counties of Palmetto Goodwill:

▪ 57,387 people helped

▪ 1,934 placed in new jobs

▪ 4,428 veterans served

Goodwill stores accept donations of housewares, clothing, furniture, books and other usable items. Workers duties include:

▪ Sorting housewares, textiles and furniture

▪ Inspecting every item for usability

▪ Determining value of housewares and furniture

▪ Pricing items

One day in the Myrtle Beach store on Loyola Drive Gina Whittington of Surfside Beach, lead store associate, and Kelly Blacka of Murrells Inlet, store associate, were preparing several items for the showroom.

“I love to sort through the things we get,” Blacka says. “It helps a lot of people who can’t buy full price items.”

“Some customers come in three times a day,” Whittington added.

“Lots of people decorate their whole house with items they buy here,” Blacka said.

Charles Ratleff, store manager at Loyola Drive where 40 people are employed, says of the merchandise, “Look at it as good new stuff.”

This writer comments on how clean, neat and well organized the stores are. “It’s a thrift store, but it doesn’t have to look like a thrift store,” Shelley says.

Karen Hamilton of North Myrtle Beach says she shops at the Little River store often. “I like to see what’s here. I like to re-purpose things.” Her basket holds two lamps she plans to spray paint. “I do get clothes, but today I’m on a mission for housewares and yard things.”

“We always come to Goodwill,” says Donna Lee of Whiteville, N.C. “I get stuff for the house. You never know what you’re going to find at Goodwill.”

This story was originally published October 21, 2016 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Goodwill has a presence throughout the Grand Strand."