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IAM Local 850 members helped almost 200 children receive holiday gifts this year. The Locals’ neighbors, members of the Iglesia Adventista Hispana, an Oklahoma City church, gathered days before Christmas for a special event to hand out gifts to the children.
The church had gathered a list of 60 families that needed help with holiday gifts this year.The Local has a Human Rights committee seeking worthy causes throughout the year. The toy drive seemed like a perfect match of neighbor helping neighbor.
IAM Local 850 members “passed the hat” and raised funds in a voluntary fund drive, collecting nearly $10,000 from generous members. That helped match the funds the church raised in its own drive. Volunteers used the funds to buy gifts that the families had requested.
“It’s Christmas time and everybody’s hearts are just big,” said IAM Local 850 Human Rights Committee Chair Greg Keesee. “Everybody wants to give. Everybody wants everybody to have a beautiful Christmas.”
“I am so proud of these members of Local 850,” said IAM Southern Territory General Vice President Craig Martin. “To know that our members found a way to give back by passing the hat is remarkable. This is the true spirit of the Southern Territory – we give from the heart, especially during this time of year.”
On the date of the event more children and families were identified as needing assistance. The church took all requests, and almost 200 children received a gift thanks to the church-union partnership.
“We are going to have the sanctuary completely full of the families from our congregation to receive the gifts in partnership with the church and the Machinists Union next door,” said Iglesia Adventista Pastor Juan Williams. “They are the ones that brought this idea to us and we are very thrilled to partner with them, to share the gifts with the kids and have a small message of blessings.”
“We really just want to see these church members, these families, these children being blessed,” said Oklahoma Conference of Seventh Day Adventists President Daniel Ortega, who oversees the church and helped organize the toy drive. “To see the smiles on their faces and our church members can feel that they are part of something like that”.
IAM Local 850 represents hundreds of members that work for various employers in Oklahoma. Many are skilled trade workers at Tinker Air Force Base, working on U.S. government Service Contract Act projects.
