USW Cares: 2018 District 12 Jefferson Award Winner, Local Union 7600 Civil & Human Rights Committee

District 12 Top Volunteer Profile 

USW Jefferson Award Winner: Local Union 7600 Civil and Human Rights Committee

Local Union: 7600

Location: Fontana, CA

Service Work: 7600’s Civil and Human Rights Committee does a monthly “food giveaway” at the union hall which supplies 30-60 community members with grocery items, including meat, vegetables, bread, and canned goods. The giveaway is made possible by donations from local unions, personal donations from members, and many hours volunteered by committee members. Any leftover food from the giveaway is hand-delivered to surrounding  senior centers by dozens of USW Local 7600 volunteers, as well as volunteers from Local 8599. Almost all members of the local participate in the giveaway somehow, but because of Chair Valery Robinson’s leadership and tireless activism in the Civil and Human Rights movement, this food giveaway project has become a staple in the community. Valery and her team also worked throughout the year to support the Warehouse Workers, who are targeted by USW oganizing efforts. During a Labor Day celebration, the Committee donated food and water to the warehouse workers who work for poverty-level wages in bad conditions and are often subject to wage theft and assault. Lastly, the Commitee held its second annual Christmas toy drive, which was a year-long effort to collect donations for families in need. To identify families with children who would benefit from the toy drive, the Committee sent a form to all 6,500 members asking them to nominate either members struggling financially or families in the community. The week of Dec 18^th to December 23^rd,  committee members took vacation time to fill gift orders from the returned forms and were able to give over 1,000 gifts to dozens of families who were struggling during Christmas.

Hours: 1,000+ hours

Community Impact: Every month this committee helps feed 30-60 families and their local senior community, and every Christmas they bring joy to fellow USW members and community members who have fallen on hard times.

Outstanding Quality: These members are there for one another and find creative ways to solve problems in their community.

Prize money donated to: Conveniently Me (provides support to hungry, homeless, low-income individuals and families in need)