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Members of IAM Heartland Locals 850 and 2909 held their second annual Gears and Shears event at their combined office in Oklahoma City. The event utilized the talents of local cosmetologists, social work specialists, the power of local IAM Union members, and the BBQ skills of the allied building trades of Oklahoma City.
Citizens in the Capitol Hill neighborhood surrounding the Locals’ office were able to get free haircuts, pick from donated clothing and shoes, and get a free meal of BBQ, burgers, or hotdogs. Some of the attendees are unhoused. Some are just in need of the small help the event offered. Volunteers also handed out 300 hygiene care kits graciously donated by District 142 and Southwest Airlines
After his hair was cut, Joe, an unhoused father of three children, picked up a broom and swept the floors and gathered trash. His sense of returning a favor would not allow him to accept help without working for it.
Born and raised in Kansas, he, his wife, and three children moved to Oklahoma for a better job. He lost that job 18 months ago due to a layoff, and has been unhoused for five months in the Oklahoma City area. He separated from his wife and children, who moved back to Kansas, out of a desire to not burden them.
“They chase us around the different areas to keep us from staying in one place,” Joe said of local government and police efforts to break up homeless encampments. “I’m just grateful for what I do get, and I think others should be grateful too. I just don’t understand some of the people out here that get help like this and they want even more.”
“It shows that we’re just trying to give back to the community, and it’s just really fulfilling inside to know that we are doing something for a good cause,” said IAM Local 2909 Secretary- Treasurer Robyn Gregory. “This is our second year and I feel like it’s growing, and getting bigger and bigger. The goal each year is to continue to grow it.”
“Our motto at the IAM is justice on the job, service to the community. To see our membership so involved from Local 850 and 2909 where even the building trades have jumped in to help out is amazing,” said IAM Air Transport Territory Chief of Staff Edison Fraser, who attended the service event. “When you look at an event like this, being a member is more than just being a part of the IAM. What we do here, and in other locals, extends what we do at work into the community that surrounds us. We are so appreciative, so grateful, and we extend our love, our service, and our gratitude to all those around us. I just want to say thank you to every single volunteer that has made this possible.”
“It brings you back to Earth and makes you realize that there are people that need help,” said Makaiya Costello, her Mother is an IAM member who pitched in to help for the event. “The only thing I knew about unions was from school. Being able to see what they were actually able to do together to help people outside of the job was beautiful. It’s humbling almost, to be around and experience the ways that other people have to live, and what they go through. I am so grateful to help, and I am so glad to be here.”
Another community member, Alice, waited patiently as her son, Jay, got a haircut. She has one other child that recently graduated high school, so money was tight for this month with inflation, gas prices, and the costs of one child’s once in a lifetime events postponing the needs of her other child. Jay had not had a haircut in a few months. This event allowed this mother to breathe for just a few minutes as one of life’s simple luxuries was taken care of by IAM volunteers. They said they appreciated the offer of burgers or hot dogs, but they didn’t need them.
As we spoke, Joe was ready to leave as well. He put the broom back where it belonged, said thank you, and departed. Hopefully he will find his way to a steady place where he belongs and next year, at the third annual Gears and Shears event, there will be an extra haircut and hotdog for someone else that just needs a little help.
