March 17, 2020. That was the first day of our drive-thru food pantry – something we had expected to last a few weeks, maybe a month. As you know, we ran our food pantry as a drive-thru for more than a year and a half.

I wasn't yet a part of the Goodman community when the center closed its doors because of the pandemic, but I've heard the stories of our staff jumping into action to make sure our community had what it needed in those early, scary and uncertain days. And in the last year, I've witnessed the ways our staff continued to pivot to adjust to the ever-changing horizon of a global pandemic.

I also heard the stories of your generosity. Our fundraising team was frequently brought to tears by the notes you all left as you made generous donations online. Our staff felt your support, even though we had to be apart. They knew you had their backs.

We're getting served up with more darkness every day, aren't we? The situation in Ukraine is devastating. The struggles our youth and families are facing here at home are heartbreaking. Things feel bleak.

Let me tell you why I still have hope, even as the world pummels our most vulnerable with challenge after challenge. I get to see goodness happening here at the Goodman Center every single day. I watch our staff face challenges with strength and determination, and I see you doing the same. When we need you, you rise to the occasion. That's community.

I hope you'll read the story right below this letter, about our fundraiser for Girls Inc. of Greater Madison. In a world filled with darkness, this program is a light for young girls and female-identifying youth in our community. And if you have a few dollars to spare, I hope you'll consider making a gift. We could all use a little more good in our lives.

Take care,

Girls Inc. of Greater Madison is doing remarkable work with remarkable young people throughout our city. The last two years have been hard on our youth and our program. Things were disjointed, separated. Our youth didn't feel connected. This year, in a way, it feels like we're starting from scratch, rebuilding connection not only between youth and Girls Inc. facilitators, but also among the young people themselves.

We want to provide every one of our sites with something simple: Girls Inc. merchandise that will help girls, nonbinary and female-identifying youth feel more connected, like they're part of something bigger.

And we're not going to stop there.

$10,000 for merchandise and $20,000 to support the incredible Girls Inc. programming happening across the Greater Madison area.

Your gift today will help hundreds of youth across Madison feel more connected to their peers and trusted adults, which is vital to their mental health and long-term well-being. That's a solid investment in the future of our community. 

Our older adults aren't ones to pass up an opportunity to throw a party, and St. Patrick's Day is no exception. Yesterday, they donned their green and enjoyed live Gaelic music performed by Tom Kastel while munching on delicious shamrock shakes after lunch.

No green beer was served, but there was plenty of fun and festivities!

Our middle school cooking club is going strong! Howard has been working with the youth to identify their interests and decide what to cook. They've had a breakfast theme going, making crepes, pancakes, hoecakes and waffles. Then they realized that cooking club fell on Fat Tuesday, so they learned how to make homemade beignets! Mouthwatering, aren’t they?

These beautiful dried peppers, that were harvested last fall, had a long and educational journey from seedling to recent Preservation CSA share item!

TEENworks youth who enroll in our Seed to Table Preservation team work with food from the very early stages – learning gardening and harvesting skills – through the prep and preservation process. They learn safe food handling techniques, the science behind preservation and proper packaging and labeling of foods. These teens are also responsible for walking CSA shareholders through each month's basket, which teaches them valuable customer service skills.

We celebrated Staff Appreciation Day on Friday, March 4. It's super hard to share just how much we appreciate everyone working at the Goodman Community Center. Our staff are some of the kindest, most caring and hard-working people around. Every day, they showcase what it means to #BeTheGood.

As our CEO Letesha said in a message to staff this week:

"It's as clear to me today as it was on my first day just how much you value the people in our community. You understand why it's so important for us to lift everyone up.

"We've faced some tough challenges in the last year, and I watched this team of people rise to those challenges again and again and again. I'm proud of you all, and I'm grateful to be able to continue Goodman's mission of strengthening lives and securing futures with you."

Our beautiful and affordable rooms are the perfect backdrop to celebrate the Class of 2022, from preschool to college graduates! Rooms range in size and amenities available to suit your grad party needs, with the option to include catering from our on-site catering service, Good Works Community Catering.

Current open positions: 

Sign your child up for our Fit Youth Initiative spring sports camps, running weekly from March 14 through May 20. We're featuring activities for 2-year-olds to eighth graders, including basketball, soccer, volleyball and our brand new Intro to Sports, which is great for young players looking to find a sport that they will enjoy.

FYI is dedicated to providing an equitable, low-cost opportunity for all youth to participant in sports. We understand the cost of participating can sometimes be an economic burden and offer assistance in the form of scholarships for our sports camps.

Hours:   

Questions? Contact Francesca at francesca@goodmancenter.org or 608.204.8049.  

P.S. We have a new and improved online donation system that's incredibly secure, but we are still working out a few functionality kinks. If you make a gift and notice something amiss, please let us know by emailing amie@goodmancenter.org. Thank you!

608.241.1574 | info@goodmancenter.org | goodmancenter.org

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