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United Way and Organized Labor: A Partnership for a Better Community |
United Way and organized labor believe it’s the collective responsibility of all to care for each other. With this joint mission in mind, United Way and the AFL-CIO of Champaign County have continued a partnership to impact the changing needs of our community.
The organized labor community uses its skills and willingness to serve to help others in need. One way they gave back this year was through a food distribution around the holidays. This distribution partnered with a number of organizations and distributed food to families and children who use school lunch programs in Champaign County. A total of 201 families and 932 adults and children received food during two distributions in December.
In addition, the AFL-CIO started an All Trades Retirement group that seeks to bring together retirees from all the building trades. The group is a forum for keeping retired tradesmen and women abreast of what is happening in their respective trades. It also gives them a chance to meet with one another. In the first meeting this year, 35 retirees attended and more events are scheduled for 2007.
When all is said and done, what matters® is the partnership formed between the labor community and Champaign County residents and the ways these partnerships help people.
Working together, we know we can make our community a better place to live, work, and raise a family.
For more information, please contact Eric Westlund at
eric@uwayhelps.org
Rantoul, IL, 11/17/2007- The AFL-CIO Central Labor Council sponsored a food distribution to benefit the displaced workers from Collins and Aikman in Rantoul. 173 families and 531 individuals were served in only 1 1/2 hours on Saturday, November 11th at the Community Service Center of Northern Champaign County in Rantoul. The distribution was made possible by the Eastern Illinois Foodbank's food mobile, which contained 7586 pounds of nutritionally dense food and household products.
Individuals in need of food assistance in the Rantoul area were informed of the distribution through the Community Service Center and the peer counselors from the AFL-CIO's Member Assistance Program who have been working with former employees of Collins and Aikman who recently lost their jobs. The labor community plans to sponsor two more food mobiles during the holiday season, one in Champaign and one in Urbana, that will help to provide food for children who participate in the free or reduced school lunch program.
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