Evette Rios Becomes Goodwill® Spokesperson

Nationally recognized television reporter will strengthen Goodwill's links to Hispanic community

ROCKVILLE, Md., July 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Goodwill Industries International is pleased to announce that bilingual lifestyle expert Evette Rios has signed on as the organization's first Latina spokesperson. In this role, Rios will bring her expertise in craft and design to the organization, and work to increase Goodwill's visibility in the Hispanic community.

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Hailing from Puerto Rico and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Rios is best known for her role as field correspondent and roving reporter on ABC's daytime talk show "The Chew." She is currently the only Latina on a national daytime talk show. Rios has also been a contributing design expert and "buddy" to Rachael Ray, where she is known for her hands-on advice, innovative crafts and dramatic room revisions, specializing in budget-friendly projects. She also hosts the popular "Better Homes & Gardens 100 Days of Holidays" online video series, regularly appears on the "Today Show" and "The Early Show," and contributes to Everyday with Rachael Ray and Siempre Mujer magazines.

An avid Goodwill shopper, Rios relies heavily on second-hand items for her creations. Over the next year, she will serve as a blogger and online ambassador for Goodwill, highlighting ways she has found to repurpose gently used items as home decor. She will write monthly blog entries for Goodwill's public website that will appear in both English and Spanish — a rare find among lifestyle bloggers.

"Not only is one in six people in the United States Hispanic, but this population makes up the fastest-growing segment of Goodwill shoppers and program participants," said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. "We are thrilled to have Evette on board to help us expand our message of environmental conservation, job training and family support services to this community."

For 110 years, Goodwill has been an entrepreneurial leader, environmental pioneer and social innovator of the "reduce, reuse, repurpose" practice. Goodwill diverts more than two billion pounds of clothing and household goods every year from landfills by recovering the value in people's unwanted material goods. In the process, Goodwill creates job training opportunities as well as entry-level and skilled green jobs for people in need of work. Rios will bring this message to the Hispanic-American community by integrating Goodwill messaging into her appearances, and incorporating visits to Goodwill agencies with her travels.

ABOUT GOODWILL INDUSTRIES INTERNATIONAL
Goodwill Industries International is a network of 165 community-based agencies in the United States and Canada with 14 affiliates in 13 other countries. Goodwill agencies are innovative and sustainable social enterprises that fund job training programs, employment placement services and other community-based programs by selling donated clothing and household items in more than 2,700 stores and online at shopgoodwill.com. Local Goodwill agencies also build revenue and create jobs by contracting with businesses and government to provide a wide range of commercial services, including packaging and assembly, food service preparation, and document imaging and shredding. In 2011, more than 4 million people in the United States and Canada benefited from Goodwill's career services. Goodwill channels 82 percent of its revenues directly into its programs and services. To find a Goodwill location near you, use the online locator at www.goodwill.org, or call (800) GOODWILL. Follow us on Twitter: @GoodwillIntl or find us on Facebook: GoodwillIntl. Follow Evette on Twitter: @evrios or find her on Facebook: evetterioshome.

SOURCE Goodwill Industries International