Aug 30, 2022

Employee Spotlight: Lori Ostrander

Senior Accounting Specialist,
Years of service: 11

Lori has been a Goodwill employee for nearly eleven years and we are extremely grateful to have her on the team. Lori is our Senior Accounting Specialist and originally started out with us as temporary staff through GoodTemps before applying for a position in our Finance Department. When talking about her early experience in her career Lori started laughing because at the time she had another job offer on the table but she turned it down because working for Goodwill is where she wanted to be. We are so glad to have her! Lori brings so much joy to the day-to-day tasks in Finance. Whether she’s entering payroll data, running reports, or assisting others, she always has a smile on her face.  Lori’s positive attitude is contagious.

When we asked Lori who her role models were she couldn’t help but get a twinkle in her eyes and exclaimed, “My mom and dad!” Lori went on to say her father taught her to always work hard and to “do what you need to do and do it to the best of your ability.” Lori said her mother is an inspiration because despite being a teenage mother who endured a rough childhood she persevered and went on to earn her high school diploma while raising her children. When asked if she had any words of wisdom/advice to share she said, “You don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring. You have to keep moving forward. Coming to Goodwill was very healing for me.”

When Lori isn’t at work, she spends her spare time with her family. She has eight grandchildren and is currently raising three of them. One grandson in her care was diagnosed with leukemia and though there have been some incredibly tough times throughout his treatment, he is doing really well. Lori is also a great-grandmother with two more great-grandchildren on the way! She says Goodwill has always been helpful to her through everything.

Lori’s guilty pleasure is hot cocoa (who can blame her?! – right?). When she shared with us that she prefers her homemade recipe we couldn’t help but ask her to share it with us. See below for recipe:

Ingredients: Warm milk, cocoa powder, sugar

Heat the milk on the stovetop or microwave
Add in 2 tsp. of cocoa powder
Add in 1 tsp. of sugar

Mix well and enjoy!

Thank you Lori for being such a valuable asset to our Finance Department. We are thankful for all you do!