SMART sisters serve their communities for Women in Construction Week

August 27, 2024

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As part of Women in Construction Week 2024, the SMART Women’s Committee called on union members to take part in a day of community service during the month of March, demonstrating the power of solidarity and spreading the word about the union sheet metal trade. And from coast to coast, SMART sisters answered the call.

Local 206 (San Diego) members, Building Trades Sisters, tradeswomen and allies taught an APR class at Southwestern College some hands-on skills making tissue boxes and picture frames!

Local 206 members pictured: Annet Del Rosario, Tatjana Sebro, Demetria Gamble, Kacey Grierson and Belen Martinez.

Local 63 (Springfield, Mass.) volunteered at Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen in Chicopee on March 29, 2024. From left to right: Brandie Benoit, Rebecca Sturtevant, Deb St. Peter and Rachel Murphy.

Local 2 (Kansas City) sisters celebrated Women in Construction Week by performing repairs at a local Youth Resilience Center, showing the meaning of union solidarity and the fulfilling careers available in our trade.

On March 16th, for their 2024 Women in Construction Week Service Project, Local 17’s Women’s Committee, the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston and Girls at Work worked with 15 young women aged 8–18 and their Big Sisters to build picnic tables for organizations in the Boston area. Volunteers included seven SMART sisters, one husband and five other tradeswomen from the Electricians, Elevator Constructors, Plumbers and Carpenters unions.

“At the end of the day, we raised $11,830 from individual donors, contractors and unions,” said Local 17 Business Development Rep. Shamaiah Turner. “We built six picnic tables. Three tables were donated to the Brookview House, which is a charity focused on getting homeless women and children stabilized. Three tables were also donated to Boston elementary schools that work with the United Way. One of the successes of the day was working with a 14-year-old who is a freshman at a vocational school. She was thinking of doing a criminal justice or nursing track. At the end of the project, she stated that she was going to also consider metal fabrication.”