TFTers deliver toys to laid off Teamsters
On Saturday, December 12th, four weeks after the Teamsters for Tomorrow Leadership Summit, the TFT organizing committee met again at the Union hall with a unified purpose. Their mission? To sort, bag, and deliver hundreds of donated toys to the families of laid off members of Teamsters Local 117.
The effort was the final act of the Teamsters for Tomorrow Toy Drive, an initiative that will benefit approximately 60 children of Teamster families over the holidays.
“We wanted to help out our Union brothers and sisters who have fallen on hard times,” said Kris Fish, a Local 117 member at Kraft Foods who helped organize the Drive.
The idea for the Toy Drive arose in meetings of rank-and-file members leading up to the Teamsters for Tomorrow Leadership Summit on November 7. Committee members were looking for something to keep the momentum and spirit of the Summit going after the event itself. The Toy Drive was proposed as a way of supporting Local 117 members who had been hit hardest by the economic disaster.
“Considering the short timeline to organize this, our members have accomplished a remarkable feat” said Local 117 Secretary-Treasurer Tracey A. Thompson.
The first step was to assemble and distribute Toy Drive receptacle boxes to shops throughout the Union. Fish along with other Teamster for Tomorrow activists took the lead at their workplaces and urged their fellow co-workers to donate to the Drive. An amazing 75% of the Local 117 members on Fish’s shift at Kraft Foods donated toys to the Drive. At Avis, Cara Brown helped collect 50 toys from her co-workers.
“I bought a bunch of toys to sort of set the tone for my co-workers,” Brown said. “A lot of them followed suit. Some donated money that we used to buy more toys,” she said.
All told, the group collected hundreds of toys and stocking stuffers for kids of all ages.
After packing up the goods, TFTers mapped out a course and planned the deliveries. On December 14th and 15th, dressed in long-sleeved Teamsters for Tomorrow T-shirts, Union members drove from house to house and dropped off the cargo.
Rolanda Fuentes, a 4-year member from UNFI with two kids who lost her job back in September, was one of the first recipients of the toys. “When I heard that my family had been chosen, I was shocked and incredibly grateful,” Fuentes said. “To me, the Union is all about strength and community. This shows that my Union cares.”
Any remaining toys from the Teamster for Tomorrow Toy Drive will be donated to the Marine Corps Reserve Program “Toys for Tots” to benefit children of low-income families in the area.