The sky may have been cloudy, but the rain didn’t dampen a single person’s spirit at the Goodwill Industries of Michiana Company Picnic on Sunday, August 7. Employees, their families, and their friends gathered to mingle and celebrate their hard work. Even with the showers, the picnic showed Goodwill employees how appreciated they are.
“Everything’s coming together now. We’ve got a lot of people here, and I’m glad to see that even with the rain, we still had folks show up,” said Chad Schnitzler, Employee Success Coach for Goodwill Industries of Michiana.
Tom Dermody, the Mayor of La Porte, kicked off the event with a warm welcome to the City of La Porte. The Goodwill team was grateful for such a supportive greeting.
The day had plenty of fun to offer for adults and kids. There was a face painting booth, balloon artists who made silly crowns for everyone, a bounce house, and a corn-hole tournament. There was even a dunk tank where employees could dunk their bosses into a bucket of chilly water!
If games weren’t someone’s thing, there was a raffle that the employees could enter to win prizes. Not to mention a delicious buffet of food and a food truck to enjoy all day long. There was something fun for everyone to do.
“Having fun and celebrating. That’s what today is all about,” said Debie Coble, President and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Michiana.
This is the first company picnic in a while and is one of the biggest they’ve thrown yet. The committee decided to bring the picnic back this summer when many employees expressed they would like to do a company picnic again.
“The exciting thing is that our employees were saying they wanted it. That’s what started it all. And we just thought what an awesome way to recognize them,” said Coble.
The company picnic is just one of many fun events that Goodwill Industries of Michiana throws for its employees. The company holds annual Thanksgiving luncheons and Christmas parties. Goodwill also does a lot of dress-up days for its employees to let them have some extra fun while at work. Some past dress-up days include a Superhero day and a Spirit day to celebrate the Fourth of July.
The main goal of the picnic may have been for employees to let loose and have some fun with their co-workers outside of work, but the ultimate hope was for employees to feel valued. As an Employee Success Coach, Schnitzler’s job is to ensure employees are successful both in the workplace and in their personal lives. To him, the event was another great way to support Goodwill employees, and he looks forward to finding more ways to help out.
“Goodwill cares a lot about our employees and our communities. We will continue to do things to show our appreciation to our employees, as well as help them have fun inside and outside of work!” said Schnitzler.
The Goodwill Industries of Michiana Company Picnic was a wonderful treat to thank employees for their quality work. The Goodwill team is grateful for the support and understanding of their customers in giving their employees a day to come together and celebrate their work family.
“I just want to thank the committee. The Mayor of La Porte came out and greeted us and so we thank him for his continued support and good work. Also, thanks to all our vendors that have helped make this day possible,” said Coble.
To learn more about Goodwill Industries of Michiana visit: https://goodwill-ni.org/.
