1940 Benjamin Blumberg donated $200 toward payment of a debt at the Merchants National Bank, clearing the store on Fourth Street of debt. He also made possible installation of the first electric elevator in the Goodwill building. Ed Bindley contributed a concrete floor for the basement of the Goodwill building, poured and finished by concrete workers employed by Leroy White, who had assisted in the original building project. Before this, flies and dampness made use of the basement area almost impossible. Victor Miller offered money to pay for finishing the second floor and painting the building on the inside, and another friend gave a paint spraying machine valued at more than $150.
1941-1945 Goodwill's work increased during the war years as the Office of Production Management in Washington advised all Goodwill Industries to step up collections of salvage and other discarded materials. There was a critical need for paper, rags, metal and rubber for processing into new materials; and reconditioning and reuse of other materials would help conserve new consumer goods. Housewives and children all over responded by donating and collecting materials for war use.
1942 The Terre Haute Community Chest was organized and accepted Goodwill's application for membership allotting $3,600 to Goodwill. Rev. Grob was one of the campaign chairmen for the initial fund-raising drive.
September 13, 1942 A disastrous fire at the Goodwill building destroyed the inside of the upper three floors and their contents. Immediately, Rev. Grob began to plan for repairing the damage and continuing the operation elsewhere while repairs were being done. The community responded with help and, by 1943, the workshops were restored and Goodwill was in full operation again.
1945 As assistant director of Goodwill Industries, Ted, Jr., instituted a new program called "human engineering" which would guide Goodwill during the coming years of change and expanding services. The focus of all Goodwills had changed since the Depression, from helping those handicapped by economic conditions to those handicapped by physical and mental conditions. Ted anticipated that disabled veterans returning to the Terre Haute area after W.W.II would need help becoming a part of society again. This program required working agreements with many state and local agencies -- the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Indiana Veterans Administration, the Indiana Department of Mental Health, the Vigo County Mental Health Association, the Vigo County Tuberculosis society, the American Red Cross chapter and the Family Services Association. Thanks to local industry, Goodwill was able to obtain several jobs which employed handicapped workers but did not fit into the industries' own production schedules. Columbia Records, Ethyl Visqueen, Wabash Fibre Box Company, Home Packing, Public Service Indiana, and Coca-Cola bottling Company were just some of the industries furnishing work to Goodwill employees.
1947 The Rotary Club sponsored the first Good Turn Drive for Goodwill, a program which has continued over the years to provide Goodwill employees with a source of goods to work on throughout the year.
April, 1949 Goodwill continued to expand its services by opening the Brazil retail store, the first outside Terre Haute. Other area retail stores followed through the years, selling, as did the Brazil Store, material collected in the area and processed at the central workshop in Terre Haute. These included stores in Marshall, Charleston, Robinson and Paris, in Illinois and in Sullivan, Greencastle, Linton, Clinton, West Terre Haute and North Terre Haute, in Indiana.
1941-1945 Goodwill's work increased during the war years as the Office of Production Management in Washington advised all Goodwill Industries to step up collections of salvage and other discarded materials. There was a critical need for paper, rags, metal and rubber for processing into new materials; and reconditioning and reuse of other materials would help conserve new consumer goods. Housewives and children all over responded by donating and collecting materials for war use.
1942 The Terre Haute Community Chest was organized and accepted Goodwill's application for membership allotting $3,600 to Goodwill. Rev. Grob was one of the campaign chairmen for the initial fund-raising drive.
September 13, 1942 A disastrous fire at the Goodwill building destroyed the inside of the upper three floors and their contents. Immediately, Rev. Grob began to plan for repairing the damage and continuing the operation elsewhere while repairs were being done. The community responded with help and, by 1943, the workshops were restored and Goodwill was in full operation again.
1945 As assistant director of Goodwill Industries, Ted, Jr., instituted a new program called "human engineering" which would guide Goodwill during the coming years of change and expanding services. The focus of all Goodwills had changed since the Depression, from helping those handicapped by economic conditions to those handicapped by physical and mental conditions. Ted anticipated that disabled veterans returning to the Terre Haute area after W.W.II would need help becoming a part of society again. This program required working agreements with many state and local agencies -- the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Indiana Veterans Administration, the Indiana Department of Mental Health, the Vigo County Mental Health Association, the Vigo County Tuberculosis society, the American Red Cross chapter and the Family Services Association. Thanks to local industry, Goodwill was able to obtain several jobs which employed handicapped workers but did not fit into the industries' own production schedules. Columbia Records, Ethyl Visqueen, Wabash Fibre Box Company, Home Packing, Public Service Indiana, and Coca-Cola bottling Company were just some of the industries furnishing work to Goodwill employees.
1947 The Rotary Club sponsored the first Good Turn Drive for Goodwill, a program which has continued over the years to provide Goodwill employees with a source of goods to work on throughout the year.
April, 1949 Goodwill continued to expand its services by opening the Brazil retail store, the first outside Terre Haute. Other area retail stores followed through the years, selling, as did the Brazil Store, material collected in the area and processed at the central workshop in Terre Haute. These included stores in Marshall, Charleston, Robinson and Paris, in Illinois and in Sullivan, Greencastle, Linton, Clinton, West Terre Haute and North Terre Haute, in Indiana.
