Goodwill opens in Mt. Pleasant

MT. PLEASANT — Goodwill officially opened the doors of their new Mt. Pleasant location with plenty of fanfare at their grand opening event Friday morning, Aug. 4.

In anticipation of the thrift store’s opening, eager shoppers formed a line stretching well past the entrance of Anytime Fitness next door.

Goodwill marked the special occasion with a ribbon cutting ceremony, games with prizes, a golden treasure chest hunt, and an overall energetically welcoming atmosphere.

Company leaders from the President to the new Mt. Pleasant Store Manager took the opportunity to share a few words expressing their gratitude and excitement during the ribbon cutting ceremony.

“We are so excited to have a store in the Mt. Pleasant community,” President and CEO of Goodwill Pat Airy welcomed everyone. “We’re very excited to show you our new store.”

According to the company’s Vice President of Retail Jason Toms, the journey of bringing Goodwill to Mt. Pleasant has stretched over nearly five years.

“I’m very excited about today and the opportunity…” Toms said. “I’ve been driving through the community, and we’ve been looking for an opportunity and we’re just blessed to have this location and the support of the community.”

Mt. Pleasant Goodwill Store Manager Mary Barton expressed her own excitement at finally seeing the project come to fruition.

“The team has been wonderful, and they’re excited to get going!” she said.

“The Mt. Pleasant team has been working extremely hard to make this happen today,” Barton later shared. “They've done wonderful and the whole organization as a whole has come together and supported us. They made it happen.”

Barton expressed that she can’t wait to serve the Mt. Pleasant community and looks forward to welcoming many shoppers to the store.

According to Barton, when people walk into the Mt. Pleasant Goodwill “They’re going to find that one of a kind unique item that brings them value and is brought to them at a fraction of the price that they could get it anywhere.”

In addition to retail stores, Goodwill Industries offers career training. While Airy stated that the closest career center to Mt. Pleasant is located in Burlington, she also stated that they would assess community needs in this area to determine any additional programs.

“Our mission at Goodwill is to help people reach their full potential through education, training and the power of work. We have all kinds of programs to help people build their skills and get a better job,” Airy said. “So, know that when you donate you're no-longer-used items to Goodwill or when you shop, you're helping us be able to provide those programs in our community.”

“We're also going to be launching a virtual career center in the next few weeks,” she added. “So that's going to be really exciting.”

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com