In the 1940’s the AFL-CIO and the United Way formed a cooperative working relationship to provide services to members of labor unions, their families and the communities they call home.
Here are just a few ways this partnership impacts the community:
- Solicit contributions from workers through workplace campaigns, which account for a sizable percentage of the contributions collected each year. Through the Labor Letters of Endorsement Program, the president of the AFL-CIO asks presidents of its affiliated unions and state federations to send letters endorsing United Way campaigns to their memberships. This program encourages individual union members to volunteer their time and contribute their resources to United Way Campaigns. It also encourages local unions and central labor councils to endorse and support United Way campaigns.
- Recruit and train union members to volunteer health and human-care service organizations.
- Train union members to assist co-workers, neighbors, friends and their families with information about available local health and social services and while referring them to the appropriate organizations for help.
- Organize blood drives each year and recruit their members as well as the public to come in and donate.
- Support the National Association of Letter Carriers National Food Drive held annually on the second Saturday in May. The drive stocks local community food banks, pantries and shelters with non-perishables that letter carriers collect from customers along their mail routes.
For more information about AFL-CIO Community Services, contact the Heart of Illinois United Way’s Community Service Liaison, Amy Flynn, at 309-674-5181, ext. 1239 or email .
