Donation that makes a difference: L-R: Rich Austin, ILWU Pensioner President and co-host of “We Do The Work” radio program; Dan McKisson, President of the ILWU Puget Sound District Council; Rip Robbins, General Manager of KSVR-FM radio.
Year after year, up and down the coast, ILWU members, pensioners and auxiliary clubs organize toy drives and donate their time and money to local charity groups who are helping to brighten the holiday for those who have fallen on tough times. Thousands of families along the coast had a happier Christmas because of the generosity of ILWU members and their spirit of solidarity.
Southern California ‘Feed the Community Day’ and Children’s Christmas Party
On November 25 and 26 Southern California ILWU members and their families distributed 1,500 Thanksgiving baskets to families in need. “We had volunteers from every ILWU local in Southern California, as well as pensioners and Auxiliary 8 members. Local 26 members provided the security and Local 65 Port Police provided traffic control,” said Lisa Tonson, Chariman for the Holiday Events Committee
Then in December, the 2013 Southern California ILWU Children’s Christmas Party helped approximately 3,000 kids have a happy holiday season. Over 100 volunteers helped to make this year’s event possible. The committee reached out to local non-profits to identify families in the area who may be in need of some assistance. Volunteers began preparations in the early morning of December 16. ILWU volunteers set out rows of toys and sports equipment. By 9am the hall was filled with Christmas music and children and their families began filing into the ILWU Memorial Hall. Children were allowed to pick a toy of their choice and were treated to cookies, punch, face painting and a visit from Santa.
Locals 13, 26, 63, 94, the Federated Auxiliary 8, Southern California Pensioners, Longshoremen Memorial Association and the Local 63 Memorial Association all made this year’s holiday party possible. The Holiday Events Committee works year round to plan and organize the annual charity events.
Bay Area toy drive
Local 10 hosted a Christmas Party that helped a multitude of families and hundreds of children celebrate the holidays. There were generous servings of food, sweet treats, face-painters, caricature portraits, and balloon artists. Santa Claus was the most popular attraction, with children lining up to tell him their Christmas wishes. A large team of volunteers made the event possible, coordinated by Frank Cresci, and Chris Christensen of the Bay Area Longshoreman’s Memorial Association (BALMA).
Toys for Tots donations were gathered at Local 10’s hall during the month of December. The success of the event was made possible by the many contributions from the members of Local 10, 34, 75, 91 and Bay Area Pensioners. Beth Susim coordinated the Toy Drive again this year which raised several thousand dollars to purchase toys that were used to brighten the holidays for Bay Area families.
“This was a fantastic job by ILWU members. Every year we ask members to step up and they did once again. Thanks to the generosity of Local 10, 34 and 91,” Cressi said. Local 10 and BALMA also donated money and toiletries to Toolworks Working Essentials, a non-profit that helps people with disabilities and those who have fallen on hard times achieve independence. Local 10 members donated several boxes of toothpaste, tooth brushes, shampoo, deodorant which will be distributed to women’s shelters and homeless shelters serving veterans and others in the Bay Area in need.
Local 34 Marine Clerks 2014 Toy and Bike Drive was a great success. Toys and bikes were donated to the San Francisco and Oakland Salvation Army Children’s’ Toy Drive. Many thanks go out to Lea Brocchini, Lance Brocchini, Julie Fisher, John Fisher, Allen Fung, Dave Hill, Ed Kachmarik, Craig Lauderdale, Julie Mavromatis, Jacqueline Peralta, Deborah Sedasey, and Jacqueline Singleton for their donations and support.
Local 19’s Christmas for Kids
Thanks to the generous contributions from Local 19 members, the 2013 Christmas for Kids committee raised nearly $10,000 to benefit several area charities and families. This year, $5,342 was donated to Teen Feed, a program that helps street kids. Donations included backpacks filled with toiletries, sleeping bags, money for bus passes and turkeys for their annual Christmas dinner party.
In addition, $2,011 was donated to the Harborview Hospital burn unit and once again Santa (played by Local 19 member Robert MacDonald) went to the hospital and gave gifts to the kids in the burn unit. A $6,000 donaion was made to TreeHouse, an organization that helps foster kids. Steve Wintermute and Carol Brogdon went to the KIRO radio telethon for Tree House and challenged others to donate and match Local 19’s donation.
By the end of the hour a total of $22,000 was raised for Treehouse. In addition to the charity organizations, the Christmas for Kids committee donated $1,500 in food and toys to three families from the community. The Local 19 Christmas for Kids committee members and volunteers included: Carol Brogdon, Jeannine Lofton, Robert Mac- Donald, and Steve Wintermute.
Tacoma Toy Drive
During the 2013 Local 23 Toy Drive in Tacoma, members donated $28,089 which helped over 650 local children in need who were able to choose two presents a piece. Charities Director, Dragan Butorac, and the toy drive committee of Mandy Peterson, Amy James, Kim Boespflug, Dana Braach and Holly Hulscher, did most of the toy shopping at a local union store for the gifts. Local 98 also donated $1,000 toward the drive. Local 23 also donated $200 gift cards to grade school students in need who try hard in school. Local 23 members Dragan Butorac and Dana Braach delivered gift cards to all 161 grade schools Pierce County which totaled $32,200.
Together with the toy drive donations ($28,089) and gift card donations to local schools ($32,200) the generous contributions of Local 23 members totaled $62,689. Local 23 members also donated $12,000 dollars to the Food Connection food bank during the holiday season.
Volunteers from Local 23 helped with both Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners that fed over 400 at each setting. Local 23 members volunteer there throughout the year. Once every month they prepare lunches that feed around 300 people a day. They also bring in monthly in donations of toiletries and clothing for the homeless of Tacoma. “Our volunteers are grateful for the opportunity for to help serve our community,” said Local 23 member Byron Baydo.
Portland
Locals 8, 40 and 92 joined forces with the Local 8 Federal Credit Union to collect bikes and toys for two local charities. One set of donated gifts went to the “Toy N Joy Makers,” an organization with a 95-year history that works with Portland Firefighters to help children in the community. The other group of toys were contributed to the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, who sponsored a luncheon for families in need and allowed them to choose gifts contributed by ILWU and other union members. The drive could not have happened without the work of Don Mehner, Chris Scheffel, Bill Underwood Sr, Mattew Forman, and the credit union staff.
San Diego food drive
Local 29 members in San Diego participated in a successful toy and food drive. They collected over 500 pounds of food for the Jacobs and Cushman San Diego Food Bank that helps 320,000 people every month. The toy and food drives were organized by Henry Dominguez, Cameron Pate and Priscilla Perry.