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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (June 3, 2011)
June 3, 2011_nWLP 5/31/11 10:21 aM Page 4 NALC food drive totals nearly 1.4 million pounds in Oregon and SW Washington Despite lingering effects of an eco- nomic recession, residents of Oregon and Clark County, Wash., donated 1,388,904 pounds of food this year at the 19th annual Letter Carriers Na- tional “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive. The national event — the largest one-day effort to combat hunger in the country — was held May 14. National totals were not available at press time. However, over the last 18 years the Let- ter Carriers have collected more than 1 billion pounds of food. This year in the Portland metropoli- tan area, members of the National As- sociation of Letter Carriers Branch 82 collected 383,850 pounds of food. When including Washington and Clark counties, the total increases to 557,513. Letter Carriers in Clark County are represented by NALC Branch 1104. The drive also relies on the backing of the National Rural Letter Carriers As- sociation. “In a year with a lot of national dis- asters — and we’re still dealing with high unemployment — it’s pretty amazing to collect over a million pounds of food in one day,” said Jean Kempe-Ware, a spokeswoman for the Oregon Food Bank. Kempe-Ware said the donations, though down about 19 percent from last year, are enough to serve more than 1 million meals for those in need. “I just can’t express enough our gratitude to the Letter Carriers union, all of the sponsoring unions, all of the volunteers, and all who donated food. We’re very grateful,” she said. After Letter Carriers collect the non- perishable food items left by mail- boxes, they bring them back to their postal stations, where volunteers (more than 600 in Oregon and Southwest Washington) sort and box the items and load them on trucks, which are then taken to the Oregon Food Bank for fi- nal distribution. Nearly 1,500 local NALC branches in all 50 states, the District of Colum- bia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands are involved in the drive. The U.S. Postal Service and Camp- bell Soup Company are major support- ers of the drive, which has received a number of accolades over the years, in- cluding two presidential certificates of achievement. Some 35.5 million people face hunger every day in America, includ- ing 13 million children. Carpenters Food Bank still open The Carpenters Food Bank is still open and serving food boxes to the public the third Friday each month from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the union building on the corner of North Lom- bard Street and Brandon Avenue (2215 N. Lombard). “When the Carpenters merged lo- cals earlier this year, a lot of folks thought we closed,” said Mike Fahey, a retired executive secretary-treasurer of the Portland Metal Trades Council and member of the now merged Pile Drivers, Divers and Shipwrights Local 2416. Carpenters Local 247, which also was merged, owned the building and donated basement space for storage. The food bank has been operating out of that location for the past 28 years. In January, the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters dis- solved 15 locals and merged them into three locals. Local 247 is now part of Local 157, representing construction carpenters in Oregon and Southwest Washington. It is headquartered in Ore- gon City. Local 2154 is now Local 196, based in Fife, Washington. Its jurisdic- tion is Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Fahey said the food bank distributes between 450 to 650 boxes a month. To donate cash to the food bank, send checks to: P.O. Box 17358, Port- land, OR 97217. Mark your calendars for Oregon AFL-CIO convention Sept. 25-28 Union leaders and activists, mark your calendars for Sept. 25-28 and the 52 biennial convention of the Oregon AFL-CIO. The biennial convention will be held at the Hilton Eugene & Conference Center, 66 East 6th Ave., Eugene. Registration opens Sunday, Sept. 25. That evening a Welcome Party will be held. Convention business gets un- der way Monday morning Sept. 26. The popular Union Label Show is scheduled Tuesday evening, Sept. 27. For more information, call the Ore- gon AFL-CIO at 503-224-3169 or from Salem call 503-585-6320. State offers free training for unemployed members be better able to present their case to an administrative law judge. “The consequences of these hearings can be very significant,” said presiding administrative law judge David Ger- stenfeld. If your local is interested, call Ger- stenfeld at 503-612-4280. SALEM — The Office of Adminis- trative Hearings is offering union locals special training to help jobless members better understand the unemployment in- surance benefits hearings process and PAGE 4 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS JUNE 3, 2011
