Thank you, Ballard neighbors, for making the Goodwill store on 8th Avenue Northwest one of our most successful locations. Since we opened our doors in June 2004, we have enjoyed the generous support of the community through your purchases and donations.

October is an exciting month at Goodwill, and we hope that you will join us on this Saturday, Oct. 14 from Noon to 2 p.m. for our Family Fun Halloween Celebration at the Ballard store. We will have complimentary refreshments, music and a free safety gift for kids.

At Halloween - and every day - Goodwill is a great place to shop without hurting your wallet. Each aisle holds thousands of different possibilities, and you can use your imagination to build the perfect costume. If you need a little help, our employee costume consultants will be available each weekend in October to provide advice and guide your creation to completion.

Don't feel like putting something together? The Ballard store has a wide selection of new costumes for both kids and adults that are far less expensive than what you will find at other stores.

Making Goodwill your Halloween headquarters not only gives you the chance to look great for less, but your purchases and donations allow us to continue our job training and education mission.

Our job readiness programs help low-income and disadvantaged people in the community prepare for and secure employment. The people we work with face multiple, significant barriers, including lack of education and job skills, limited English proficiency and other life issues.

The ultimate goal is for our students to achieve economic independence for themselves and their families.

At Goodwill, our student body represents 83 different countries, and many of these individuals have fled poverty, famine or war in their native country for a better opportunity here.

Eighty-three percent of our students have never touched a computer prior to coming to Goodwill. Imagine how different your day-to-day life would be if you did not have access to a computer or did not know how to use it?

At Goodwill, each client works with our experienced staff to create a career plan. Students receive training, work experience, basic education, job placement assistance and support services to prepare them for the workforce.

Last year, more than 1,500 people came to Goodwill for help and 83% of our job training graduates were placed in employment, with an average salary of $8.29/hour. For many of these graduates, it's the first step toward self-sufficiency and a better life.

In addition to shopping and donating, you can help Goodwill's mission in many other ways, from financial donations to volunteering to attending special events like the Family Fun Celebration and our program graduations. For more information on our free job training programs, call 206-860-WORK or visit our website at www.seattlegoodwill.org.

Hopefully, you have learned a little bit more about Goodwill and the important role you play in our success. We greatly appreciate the support of the Ballard community and we hope to see you at the Family Fun Celebration!

Cindi Forslund is the vice president of retail operations for Seattle Goodwill.