Local 1714 offers holiday help to needy, including some of their own

LORDSTOWN

Two hundred fifty boxes filled with food lined tables inside the United Auto Workers Local 1714 union hall.

Inside the boxes were items needed for a holiday feast and then some totaling $50 per box.

As the recipients came into the union hall, union members quickly attended to them and loaded the boxes into their cars with a jovial holiday spirit.

“It’s going to help a lot,” Elizabeth Murray of Newton Falls said.

Elizabeth’s husband, Dale, works at the General Motors Lordstown Plant, where the UAW 1714 represents 1,400 workers. In January, Dale will be one of 1,202 hourly workers laid off when the third shift ends at the plant.

GM announced the shift cut in November because of a drop in consumer demand for small cars, like the Lordstown-built Chevrolet Cruze.

Dale’s team leader at the plant recommended he get a box of food from the union to help his family out during this time of need. His wife and their 1-year-old son came to collect the box of goodies at the union hall Friday.

“Some of it will help with dinners on a daily basis,” Elizabeth said.

In January, the Murrays will welcome a baby girl to the family.

“It’s great that they help out in the community,” Dale said of the Local 1714.

Helping out in the community is something the union has done for decades, union President Robert Morales said.

“It allows us to have an opportunity to make people feel better,” Morales said.

“It allows us to have an opportunity to make people feel better,” Morales said.

The UAW 1714’s Community Service Committee raises the funds all year to purchase food for the boxes and toys to give away to area organizations. The union also fulfills the leftover wishes made on giving trees inside the plant.

Read more about their efforts in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.