United Way Endorses America Wants to Work Mobilization
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In a letter to local United Way chapters across the country, Brian A. Gallagher, president and CEO of United Way World Wide, urges the local offices to join with local labor councils and state federations as they mobilize for the AFL-CIO’s America Wants to Work campaign.
He notes that unemployment is at 9 percent and 46 million people in the United States are living in poverty and says, “These figures point to an eroding middle class and a lower standard of living for millions of families across the country.”
The AFL-CIO is working to address America’s jobs crisis with their national mobilization effort, America Wants to Work jobs campaign. Like us, the AFL-CIO America Wants to Work jobs campaign supports the infrastructure bank, workforce training and extension of unemployment supports. We are working together toward the same goal of creating a better life for everyone.
NALC Volunteers Help Rebuild New Orleans
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Judy Parkins, AFL-CIO director of Community Services, sends us this report.
Members of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 124 in New Orleans and volunteers from the Prince of Wales Social Aid and Pleasure Club pitched in with Rebuild Together New Orleans in October.
The volunteers spent the first two weekends of the month painting a house for a senior who was returning to New Orleans some six years after Hurricane Katrina. Stanley Taylor, one of several NALC retirees who wielded brushes and rollers, said:
We are involved because of the generosity showed to us in our time of need and our desire to give back in the spirit of “charity begins at home.”
Taylor serves on the AFL-CIO Community Services United Way/Labor Committee in New Orleans.
Finding Help for Pa. Flood Survivors
Karen Gownley of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO reports on contacts for those in need after the floods in that state.
Many parts of Pennsylvania were devastated by the September floods. The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO has a network of labor liaisons who are helping connect those who need help with those who can help.
- -In the Harrisburg area, the United Way of the Capital Region has set up a Capital Region Flood Recovery Fund. Click here for complete information and instructions on donations. If you need assistance, contact Labor Liaison John Waters at jwaters@uwrc.org.
- -In Lancaster County, if you are able to help the flood victims or need assistance, contact Labor Liaison Jean Martin at llancclc@verizon.net.
- -In the Wilkes-Barre area, call 570-829-1341 or 1-888-829-1341 for round-the-clock free information and referral services regarding any type of assistance needed. If you are able to help, please contact Labor Liaison Walter Klepaski at walt@unitedwaywb.org.
Donate to Aid Texas Wildfire Victims
In less than a year, Texas wildfires have consumed 3.6 million acres, roughly the size of Connecticut, notes Paul Begala, an affiliated professor of public policy at Georgetown and Daily Beast and CNN contributor. Four people have been killed and some 1,400 homes have been lost just in the most recent fire. Of the 10 largest wildfires in Texas history, six have occurred this year. Yet, as Begala points out:
Texas governor and GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry has cut funding for volunteer firefighters, who are the first responders to 90 percent of all wildfires in Texas, by 75 percent.
Meanwhile, Texas union members are fully mobilized to help. The Texas AFL-CIO is working with United Way organizations and has set up a Union Wildfire Relief Fund.
Click here to donate to the Union Wildfire Relief Fund.
Community Services Network Kicks Off United Way Campaign
Bud Biscardo from United Way Worldwide reports on the kickoff of the 2011 United Way campaign.
Across the country, the AFL-CIO Community Services Network is kicking off the 2011 United Way campaign with union-sponsored events—rallies, golf outings, kickoff lunches and dinners. All these events have one goal: to show union members’ strong support for the United Way.
New Community Services Liaison: People Are in Need Like Never Before
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AFL-CIO Community Services Director Will Fischer sends us this report.
We are happy to introduce Nicole Fuller, our new AFL-CIO Community Services Liaison for the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania/Philadelphia Council.
Fuller was a member of the UAW for more than 11 years in Detroit. She was the representative for the Employee Support Services Program at one of Ford Motor Co.’s parts facilities prior to moving to Philadelphia.
In Philadelphia, Fuller worked as a trainer and coordinator for the Philadelphia Area Project on Occupational Safety and Health (PHILAPOSH). She is currently a member of Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 38010.
Fuller has been recognized in Michigan and Philadelphia for her work and dedication in the labor movement and community service.
Fuller says:
I hope the experience, education and passion that I bring to this position will afford me the opportunity to continue building, as well as developing new programs and partnerships. People are in need like never before during my lifetime and I would like to help make a difference.
Cincinnati Union Members Help Rebuild School Playground
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Mark Caddo of the United Way of Greater Cincinnati, reports on union members and corporate executives who came together to rebuild a school playground in Walton, Ky.
The Early Learning Center at Walton-Verona Elementary School is nestled between two farms in the rolling hills of Walton, Ky., near Cincinnati. Late last month, with a heat index above 100 degrees, members of the UAW, United Steelworkers (USW), AFSCME and the Laborers (LIUNA) partnered with United Way of Greater Cincinnati’s latest crop of volunteer “loaned executives” from local businesses to help rebuild the school playground. The play area had been destroyed by recent strong storm winds and the wear and tear of two years of daily school ground play.
Union Volunteers Wrap Up Big Clothes Drive in Kenosha, Wis.
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AFL-CIO Community Services Director Will Fischer describes union volunteer efforts in Kenosha, Wis., to collect clothes for those in need.
United Way of Kenosha County (Wis.) recently wrapped up its “Bare Necessities Drive” which included participation of 20 area businesses and unions that aided 13 nonprofit care agencies in the community.
The Bare Necessities Drive originated in 2010 and helps provide undergarments for men, women and children. This year, volunteers from various schools, organizations and unions helped in pick up donated collection barrels and filled a school bus with more than 3,100 new socks, underwear, and pajamas.
Volunteers also sorted and distributed the clothing items at UAW Local 72’s Hall, which the union offered for use throughout the event.
AFL-CIO Community Services Liaison Dale Seianas thanked United Way’s Day of Action Committee for its expertise in making this year’s event such a success.
As AFL-CIO Community Services Liaisons, our role is to serve the entire community and promote the efforts and deeds of labor in helping build and bond relationships in those communities. Whether the building trades are providing and installing a scoreboard for the girl’s high school baseball team or helping serve meals at the soup kitchen, the fact is that labor is and always will be a major part of any community’s success story.
Georgia Crisis Center Gets TLC from Union Volunteers
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AFL-CIO Community Services Director Will Fischer describes union volunteer efforts at a community crisis center in Georgia.
Nearly 50 union brothers and sisters from across the state of Georgia took time out in recent days to lend a hand to a Georgia community. Working with the United Way of Coastal Georgia, participants in the Georgia AFL-CIO Community Services’ Legislative and Organizing Conference provided much-needed repairs, maintenance and sprucing up at the Glynn Community Crisis Center.
The center is a nonprofit organization located in coastal Georgia, providing services to women and children in domestic violence situations.
Union volunteers brought their skills, muscle and caring to the project and completed a long list of repairs. These repairs and installations included rewiring light fixtures, installing exterior lighting, rebuilding a rotted porch, replacing and re-plumbing sinks, constructing a storage bin, installing fencing, installing shower curtain rods and much, much more. Said Georgia AFL-CIO Program Support Specialist Carol DuBose: Read the rest of this entry »
Unions and Teens Partner for Community Service
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AFL-CIO Community Services Director Will Fischer sends this report from the Lehigh Valley (Pa.) Labor Council.
Since 1999 in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, the local labor movement has been helping teenagers and pre-teens develop leadership, teamwork and planning skills through TeenWorks. Developed by former AFL-CIO Community Service Liaison Ron Achey and funded entirely by Lehigh valley unions, TeenWorks allows young people to decide how to allocate grants for and plan community service projects.
In the 12 years since its founding, TeenWorks has allocated more than $324,000 for 324 community service projects.
This group is unique in that one half of the board is made up local union members and the other half is staffed by teenagers, young adults and pre-teens as young as 11 years old. Together they participate as equals and discuss the merits of the various community service projects and which get funded. Says Gregg Potter, Lehigh Valley Labor Council president and Community Service liaison:
The TeenWorks program builds character and leadership in our youth while supporting their philanthropic efforts beginning at a very young age. Through the grant process, we are educating both teens and adults how unions are the driving force behind community service.
