DO SOMETHING
UAW members pitch in to help their communities
The call to community service is one UAW members have heard -– and followed – since the founding of our union.
So President Barack Obama's efforts encouraging Americans to volunteer in their communities found a welcome audience among UAW members.
Take UAW Local 276 members at General Motors’ Arlington Assembly facility in Texas, for example.
“We’re always looking for ways to cast a wider net,” said Ronnie Mayberry, the local’s Community Services chair. “We want to show that we’re out here working … because we’re a part of that community.”
Local 276 recently worked with Habitat for Humanity to build a new home. It was the first time the local had officially partnered with Habitat and an experience the members hope to repeat.
“We can’t wait until we need support from the community to get involved. We have to be a visible part of the community. That’s a relationship you have to build and nurture,” said Mike Cartwright, a 25-year member of Local 276.
Many of the local’s 2,200 active members – who build the Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe, the GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade – volunteer throughout the year at food drives, at local food banks and on beautification projects in the greater Arlington and Grand Prairie areas.
Like their Texas brothers and sisters, UAW Local 1853 members in Spring Hill, Tenn., also help provide shelter to those in need: the state’s homeless veterans.
With 3,000 active members, the local’s Veterans Committee works daily to assist nearly 200 in-plant veterans, as well those in the greater Tennessee area. A notable one is Nashville’s annual Operation Stand Down.
“This three-day program is the way we give back to our vets in the community,” said Gary Grove, Local 1853 Veterans Committee chair. “Most of them have nothing. We’re still getting people who are Vietnam vets who have never received a single benefit since landing back on American soil.”
Grove added the event brings everyone under one roof to get veterans the help they need. Last fall about 30 service provider organizations representing Social Security, housing, employment, veteran benefit counseling and the Internal Revenue Service were on hand to provide assistance to homeless veterans who represented every U.S. military conflict from World War II to the war in Iraq.
More than 700 volunteers representing 125 different organizations planned the event, which has shown a marked increase in attendance by female veterans each year.
Besides the annual Nashville event, the local’s Veterans Committee distributes clothing and wheelchairs, offers legal aid, and ensures recognition for the veterans and their service.
“Veterans are private people,” said Grove, a U.S. Army veteran. “I know many homeless vets have a hard time talking to people who are vets themselves. There are some things we understand and accept about one another that others don’t naturally understand.”
A Local 1853 retiree with 27 years under his belt, Grove understands the challenges. “I guess I’m committed to the vets because I am one. But more than that, sometimes words don’t exist to describe what these vets are going through and why it might be hard for them to reach out and ask for help,” he added.
You might say Local 1853 honors its veterans inside and out.
There’s a “So Proudly We Served” wall inside the union hall bearing names of Local 1853 veterans. Outside there’s a monument honoring the memory of the local’s brothers and sisters who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
“We like to call it ‘nine yards of stone and a labor of love,’ ” Grove said.
This is the first of an ongoing feature showcasing UAW members and retirees who have answered the call to service. If your local has been doing something special, let us know by sending an e-mail to uawsolidarity@uaw.net, with “Do Something” in the subject line
a fax to (313) 926-5120
or a letter to:
UAW Solidarity,
8000 E. Jefferson Ave.,
Detroit, MI 48214,
ATTENTION: Do Something.
