On December 18, United Steelworkers from Local Union 9, in Skowhegan were joined by union members from three other local unions at Sappi Fine Paper for the eighth annual food drive. Their job was to pack and load the hundreds of boxes of canned goods, soups, cereals and other food items collected for months and delivered them to food banks across central Maine.
Through raffles and donations, they raised almost $16,000 for the Christmas Dinner Harvest drive. They needed 11 trucks, an 18-foot trailer and a 12-foot trailer to deliver food to 11 community food banks and deliver 100 complete Christmas dinners.
“We’re so glad to be able to help out families in our community,” said USW Local 9 President, Patrick Carleton. “It feels good to help those who may be struggling to make ends meet this holiday season.”
Carleton praised all the incredible union and company workers who worked on this project. They come out here, have a little fun, and help our community.
The 13 members on the Christmas Harvest Drive Committee took some time, after loading up the food, to start planning for next year at their annual meeting.
This project is just one of so many that the USW's amazing members do every day to give back to our communities. If you or your local is doing good things, we want to hear about it! Click Here to share articles, videos and photos with us and don’t forget to use the #USWCares hashtag and give a shoutout to @Steelworkers when you post your stories on social media. Please submit a nomination for a Jefferson Awards at usw.org/uswcares.