MOULTRIE, Ga. — A line of about a hundred shoppers waited for the doors to open as Goodwill came to Moultrie Thursday.

Goodwill Industries is a national nonprofit organization that funds outreach services through the sale of donated items at its retail facilities. The Moultrie store that opened on Thursday is the 15th operated by Goodwill Industries of the Southern Rivers, an affiliate that also operates stores in Tifton, Valdosta, Albany and elsewhere. 

The store occupies the former location of Goody’s and Peebles department stores on Talmadge Drive at First Avenue Southeast. It includes 15,000 square feet of shopping space plus 6,000 square feet of processing space in the back of the building, said Jack Warden, CEO of Goodwill of the Southern Rivers.

A quick tour of the store showed a lot of clothes, plus furniture, books, toys, collectibles and more. Warden said 20 people have been hired to work at the store itself, and they hope to increase that team in the future.

While the store may be Goodwill’s most visible face, the charity’s focus is on connecting people with jobs, Warden said.

“We’re all about changing people’s lives through the power of work,” he told the assembly before the store’s ribbon cutting.

As soon as the team gets settled in, he said, they’ll start offering free tax preparation for taxpayers earning $57,000 or less per year. Across its 50-county footprint, Goodwill of the Southern Rivers prepared more than 5,000 tax returns last year, he said.

Very quickly after that, Goodwill wants to start offering career services, Warden said. They’ll be making contacts with local employers to determine their needs.

“We’ll probably have a job fair here before long,” he said.

Later offerings could include career counseling, coaching and resume assistance. In some markets that includes English classes for people who speak other languages, but he didn’t specifically say those would be offered here. Many services may be offered virtually at least at first, he said, but he expects to have a kiosk in the store where local people without internet service could access them.

“The real reason the store is here — the reason for our existence — is to connect people with jobs,” he said.

Contact the store at (229) 785-1083 for more information or to arrange a donation.

Store hours are 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Sunday.