![local811toydrive](https://iam141.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/local811toydrive.jpg)
Commitment To the Community: Local 811 Toy Drive for Pediatric Cancer Patients
Service to the Community
11 July 2022
Local Lodge 811’s Women’s Committee recently dropped off a large donation of toys from their latest toy collection project for Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas.
In previous years the local donated any type of toy to all children at the hospital, but this time, the committee chose to collect specific toys for bed-ridden pediatric cancer patients: puzzles, word games, books, and hand-held electronics.
Local 811 Secretary Treasurer Sarah Monderoy Garcia has been on the Women’s Committee since 2013. She, Lodge 811 Vice President Nelson Yanes, Trustee Adrienne Coleman, Charlotte Lazard, and Evelita Everitt make up 811’s Women’s Committee, which is continually collecting donations for different organizations.
“We’re always doing some type of drive, whether it’s toiletries, clothing, or toys. We like to target different areas of need in the community,” said Garcia.
The committee encouraged members to bring donations to union meetings and advertised with flyers on the break-room bulletin boards at George Bush Intercontinental Houston Airport (IAH) where Local 811 members work for United Airlines as ramp service employees, ground crew, and stores material specialists (members who work side-by-side with mechanics to provide parts for planes).
The committee strategically decides to host their toy drives in the summer time, the “off-season,” because hospitals typically receive an abundance of toy donations over the holidays but are running low and have new patients come summer.
Johnsen also pledged to work closely with the ALU, including hammering out a potential agreement to open the renowned Winpisinger Education Center to ALU members. “The Winpisinger Center is the largest labor school in North America,” he said. “It has an expert teaching staff that holds classes on things that matter to unions. Things like contract negotiations, leadership training, arbitration, organizing and more. It’ll be a great asset to JetBlue Crewmembers once they come on board, and I hope that ALU members will look into the opportunity to find out more about the Winpisinger Center.”
Related News
Apple Store Workers Win Historic Vote to Join the Machinists
Apple Store Workers Win Historic Vote to Join the MachinistsGoIAM.org21 June 2022TOWSON, Md., June 18, 2022 – Over 100 Apple store employees in Towson, Md., who recently organized into the Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (CORE), have overwhelmingly voted to...
Why the Machinists Honor Juneteenth
Why the Machinists Honor JuneteenthGoIAM.org19 June 2022Dear Sisters, Brothers, and Friends of the IAM, We have had a whole year to prepare our nation for Juneteenth as a federal holiday. A holiday that remembers June 19, 1866, the day Afro-Texans gathered to...
Machinists Union Supports Bill to Toughen Safety Rules for Foreign Repair Stations
Machinists Union Supports Bill to Toughen Safety Rules for Foreign Repair StationsGoIAM.org17 June 2022Washington, June 16, 2022 – The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) applauds the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure...