If you happen to be donating clothing or housewares at Goodwill in Painesville Township, you may catch a smile and greeting from Samuel Majoros.

This cheerful employee was honored recently with the Achiever of the Year Award by Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland and East Central Ohio. 

Sam was nominated for the award by Goodwill staff and by his teacher, Natalie Urbas.  Urbas serves as the RAVE job training coordinator for Riverside Local Schools.  RAVE (Reaching to Achieve Vocational Excellence) provides job exploration and training for students with disabilities.

“When Sam came into the program he was shy, he was timid and not a very confident worker yet,” explained Urbas.  “The beauty of the program is that I get to see young people like Sam grow.”

At first, Sam trained on a number of jobs at Goodwill through RAVE.  He learned soft skills and job responsibilities.  Eventually, he was hired by Goodwill as an employee.

As a donor door attendant, Sam greets customers and helps to unload their donations.  Then he sorts the donations into different categories, preparing the items to be priced and placed on the sales floor.

“In the beginning, I was nervous, but now I’ve developed over time to be more confident,” Sam shared.  “What I learned here at Goodwill is to be more mature and responsible.”

The local Goodwill employs nearly 700 people throughout the community.  Donations and sales at area stores support a network of outreach programs including job training for people with disabilities and other barriers to employment, hot meal programs and even rape crisis services.  Last year alone, more than 14,000 residents were supported by Goodwill mission programs.

“I do like to work with customers because I always make them happy by saying, ‘have a great and inspiring day, and spread kindness,’” said Sam.