UAW, GM contribute to community

Union members work in this community every day, building quality products and providing quality services for their customers. These union members are also carrying on the tradition of helping those in need in our community.

Members of UAW Local 2209 build full-size GMC and Chevy trucks at the General Motors Fort Wayne Assembly plant. When they are not building trucks, these members are volunteering time and donating money to a number of charities in northeast Indiana. These members are involved in their neighborhoods, churches, youth sports programs, Boy and Girl Scouts and mentoring those who need it most.

For more than 20 years GM and the UAW have partnered with Lutheran Social Services for the annual Paint-A-Thon. Over the last 20 years the UAW and GM have donated to the United Way of Allen County, giving more than $450,000 in 2007. For more than 10 years the UAW-GM team helped the YMCA Day Camp and Hodell Acres, and employees worked on-site for the United Way Day of Caring in August.

Since the plant was under construction in 1985, we have collected for the Associated Churches of Fort Wayne each Christmas. For 2007 we donated more than $7,400, along with a few hundred pounds of non-perishable food items.

Each year we host two American Red Cross Blood Drives at GM FWA. The UAW and GM team donated over 550 units of blood in 2007. This tradition dates back to 1990 when we hosted our first Blood Drive.

In addition:

• We adopted 40 families this holiday season through the Salvation Army Adopt a Family program and we collected donations through Salvation Army bell ringers at the plant Dec. 21.

• Our Veterans’ Committee donated $3,900 and toys for the Marine Corps Toys for Tots and gave $2,000 to help the VA Hospital buy a van.

• The Veterans’ Committee and Community Services Committee worked at the Wayne Township Trustee’s office providing food, clothing and medical support at the 17th annual Healthy Cities Health Fair.

• The first-shift paint department team donated $1,700 for a free rural health clinic in Noble County, which will open in January.

• Our GM Professional Managers Network donated more than $4,500 to WAJI Magic 95’s Christmas Wish program through a silent auction and other events.

• We raised more than $4,000 for “Hanna” at the annual Make-A-Wish Foundation golf outing in June and partnered with Applebee’s restaurant in its Make-A-Wish effort to donate more than $4,000 for a local 12-year-old child with bone cancer.

• We raised more than $3,200 for Community Harvest Food Bank.

• We collected more than 300 coats and 100 blankets for local charities to distribute this winter.

• We donated Christmas stockings to Parkview Hospital children’s ward.

Jim Zent is president and Dave Matthews is shop chairman of United Auto Workers Local 2209. They wrote this for The Journal Gazette. Published 12-31-2007.