This week is Volunteer Appreciation Week, and the Goodman Center wouldn't be able to do the work we do without our volunteers. We appreciate them every week, but this week in particular, I want to express my thanks and gratitude.

Some of our volunteers come once a year to help out, like for our Thanksgiving Basket Drive or to do a little spring clean-up on our grounds. Some come weekly to bring a little cheer and service to our senior meals or to help restock our food pantry. Still others build bonds with our program participants, from preschool up through older adults. All remind us what it looks like to be the good in our little corner of the world.

To our volunteers, thank you. Whether you’ve been with us for decades or just a few days, your time and talents are real treasures to our community, and we wouldn't be Goodman without you.

Take care,

Letesha is bringing back Community Chats! On May 10 at 6pm, she will sit down with Goodman board member Dulce Maria Danel to talk about what strengthening lives and securing futures will look like next year, in five years and well into the future. Letesha has been with Goodman for just over a year, and in that short time, she dove right in to serve our community. From maintaining and building on operations during an uncertain pandemic to engaging our youth directly with leadership opportunities, Letesha is making sure the Goodman Center is here for our neighbors where and how they need us most.

It's sure to be an inspiring conversation!

You're invited to a Pop-Up Community Dinner at the Goodman Center, where Chef Tyrone will be sharing his take on Mexican food. Tyrone and his team (with the help of some Goodman Center teens) will give a nod to Cinco de Mayo with a Mexican meal of tamales, pozole and more, served buffet-style in our Ironworks building.

We believe food is to be celebrated and respected as an essential part of what makes us human, and we're very excited to invite you back onto our beautiful campus to share this meal as a community.

Girls Inc. Summer Camp – Spots Available!

There are still spots available in our FREE Girls Inc. of Greater Madison Adventure Camp.

This camp is three weeks of outdoor adventure activities, team building and health awareness, which all build on girls' sense of personal power and worth. Choose from one of two sessions.

Open to incoming 6th through 8th grade girls, nonbinary and female-identifying youth.

How do I send photos from my phone? Can I control my notifications? What apps are available for my device? How do I adjust my computer settings? How do I upload photos from my phone to my computer?

Technology is a challenge for even the savviest user. At Goodman, we know it can be a barrier for our older adult population. That's why our Older Adult Program offers drop-in tech assistance. These sessions started several years ago, but they've been even more vital to our senior population since the start of the pandemic.

Our friendly tech volunteers are here and ready to help with any and all questions you may have! And if they don't know the answer themselves (it happens!), they'll work with you to figure it out.

Questions? Contact Abby Sibilski at 608-204-8027 or abigail@goodmancenter.org.

Our middle school youth and staff were very excited to go on a leadership retreat with Camp Manitowish again this year. It went so well! The group spent two nights at a beautiful camp in Grafton, Wisconsin. Over the course of three days, they participated in team-building games, solved problems and overcame challenges together. This was the first overnight trip this group has been able to do since the start of the pandemic, and students took the opportunity to really unplug and bond.

Current open positions: 

And more! Learn more here.

Multilingual Goodman staffers Maria and Cha pitched in to make our food pantry more accessible, translating more than 80 common meat and produce items into four languages!

Often the pantry has food items that aren't always clearly labeled or familiar to our guests. Now with labels in four languages, our customers can have an easier time finding their groceries as they shop our pantry. It may seem small, but these little touches help make the pantry more accessible and reduce the stigma of using a food pantry.

Recently our Fritz Food Pantry received this generous donation from Fred's Kindness Fund, including organic coffee beans, organic chocolate, local honey, iced lattes from Cafe Domestique and other delicious specialty items. Before he passed in November, Fred was a regular user of our food pantry, as well as a major foodie and coffee lover. These are all items Fred would have loved to find at the pantry.

"Our hope is to offer just a little more care and kindness flowing out into this world."

Thanks to Fred's family for this wonderful gift to our pantry!

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.

Zumba takes the "work" out of workout, by mixing low-intensity and high-intensity moves for an interval-style, calorie-burning dance fitness party. Based on Latin American dance rhythms, this class is as fun as it is effective.

Both classes are hosted at our Ironworks building (149 Waubesa St.).

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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