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SMART members from Wisconsin and across North America teamed up to support the Associa­tion for the Rights of Citizens with Handicaps (ARCh)

On the morning of Thursday, June 9, SMART members from Wisconsin and across North America joined the Associa­tion for the Rights of Citizens with Handicaps (ARCh) to prepare the Menomonee Park lodge in Menomonee Falls, Wis., for ARCh Camp Pow Wow, ensuring area adults and children with disabilities could attend the annual summer camp. Additionally, SMART pitched in with a fundraising effort that brought in $33,000 for ARCh and Camp Pow Wow, including a $5,000 donation from Milwaukee Tool Co.

“This is what we’re all about: building better communities,” said SMART Local 565 Business Manager & Financial Secretary-Treasurer Jesse Buell. “Building better wages and benefits, and raising local standards. We are proud to take part in this effort to support our community.”

“SMART takes great pride in being able to assist ARCh Camp Pow Wow with their reopening,” added SMART Local 18 Business Manager/ President Mike Mooney. “Camp Pow Wow has been a staple with serving the needs of the community for many years, and SMART is honored to be able to assist them.”

ARCh Camp Pow Wow has been providing outdoor recreational activities for adults and children with disabilities since 1959. With day camp options for the area’s most vulnerable citizens, Camp Pow Wow offers swimming, fishing, gardening, fitness, arts and crafts, music and more. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Camp Pow Wow hadn’t taken place in person since 2019, and the site had fallen into disrepair. As a small nonprofit, ARCh did not have the resources to ready the site for return to camp — and SMART answered the call.

“We are thrilled and honored to benefit from the enthusiasm and expertise of the SMART Army,” said Kristen Lindahl, assistant director of operations at ARCh, ahead of the event. “This project shows how much good can be accomplished through a dynamic partnership of organized labor, county government and the nonprofit community. It takes this great ‘village’ to raise a camp!”

“This is what we’re all about: building better communities,” said SMART Local 565 Business Manager & Financial Secretary-Treasurer Jesse Buell. “Building better wages and benefits, and raising local standards. We are proud to take part in this effort to support our community.”

Members of SMART Local 18 (Wisconsin) and Local 565 (Madison, Wis.) — along with SMART delegates attending the SMART Production and Sign Council in Milwaukee the same week — arrived at Menomonee Park lodge early on Thursday morning, with more than 120 SMART volunteers providing over 400 combined hours of labor to make sure the lodge could safely accommodate guests of all abilities.

Members removed all the contents of the lodge, cleaned and sanitized the entire building – rooms, kitchen, common areas and more – and cleaned and sanitized every piece of equipment in the lodge before reinstalling all furnishings. Other SMART workers took care of basic landscaping, repair and mainte­nance needs for the lodge picnic area, music pavilion, tent boxes and swing sets: fixing picnic tables and accessible wooden walkways, setting up heavy-duty tents for campers to use, spreading woodchips, sanitizing toys and recreational materials, and more. At the end of the effort, SMART members presented a $33,000 check to ARCh Camp Pow Wow: a demonstration of labor’s lasting commitment to supporting local communities.

“Although they have been chal­lenging for everyone, the past two years have caused massive loneli­ness and frustration among children and adults with disabilities,” said Lindahl. “Thanks to the skill and dedication of the SMART Army, our campers can now safely and joyously return to the summer fun that they have missed so much!”

The Local 80 SMART Army was out in full force this April in Detroit, Mich., headed up by retiree Richard Flood and Apprenticeship Training Center Instructor Dennis Marintette. After a long career training the next generation of apprentices at the Local 80 Training Center, Flood now donates much of his time to Habitat for Humanity and other charitable projects, where his talents and skills help those in need. Using material donated by Local 80, equipment generously donated by one of Local 80’s signatory contractors — Macomb Mechanical — and the guidance of the training instructors, Local 80 apprentices showed up to install the HVAC system for local nonprofit PR Kids.

In 2016, Beth Pierson founded PR Kids to provide assistance to mothers in need. Whether it be low-income, undocumented or single parents — or any of a multitude of other situations — PR Kids offers help in securing affordable housing, prenatal services, therapy or even help with finding employment in child care. Pierson recently purchased a house from the Detroit land bank, intending to create an office to accommodate local families in need, as well as a nursing clinic on-site to assist new mothers with infant nursing. She spent a lot of her own money to make the structure safe and inhabitable, and now she is receiving support from others in the community to push her effort over the finish line.

The United Transportation Union Insurance Association is looking for a special person to honor as its 2010 volunteer of the year.

Do you regularly volunteer at a hospital or nursing home? Do you lead a Boy Scout or Girl Scout troop or work with the handicapped? Are you involved in some other activity that benefits those in your community?

If so, the UTUIA would like to know about it.

A panel of judges at the UTU International will review all submissions and select the 2010 volunteer of the year.

The individual selected as UTUIA volunteer of the year will receive a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond and a plaque of appreciation from the UTUIA.

Additionally, he or she will be honored at the 2010 UTU/UTUIA regional meeting nearest his or her home, with all expenses paid by UTUIA.

Also, 20 runners up will be selected to receive certificates of appreciation for their volunteer efforts.

Nominations must be received or postmarked by Friday, March 26, 2010.

The winning individual will be notified by registered mail, and certificates of appreciation will be forwarded to runners up as soon as possible.

The decision of UTUIA judges is final. Previous nominees may be nominated again; however, former Volunteers of the Year are ineligible to receive awards.

The Volunteer of the Year program is an opportunity for the men and women of the UTUIA to let their fraternal lights shine.

It also provides an opportunity for UTUIA to recognize its volunteers for their outstanding contributions to others.

Nomination forms should be mailed to: UTUIA Volunteer of the Year, Attn.: Tony Martella, Director of Insurance, 24950 Country Club Blvd., Suite 340, Cleveland, OH 44070.

Do not forget to include a separate sheet of paper describing the applicant’s volunteer activities.