GM’s UAW 1112 distributes food during annual event

GM’s UAW 1112 helps the needy

Staff report

LORDSTOWN

Volunteers from United Auto Workers Local 1112 worked a different kind of assembly line Wednesday afternoon.

Workers from the General Motors Lordstown Complex gathered at the UAW 1112’s union hall there to distribute food to less-fortunate members of the community during the annual Care and Share event.

Recipients worked their way along an assembly line, collecting food from volunteers. The union members were joined by volunteers from the VFW, the Austintown National Guard armory and students from the Lordstown school district.

Glenn Johnson, union president, said between 40 and 50 volunteers attended the event to distribute 12 to 13 pallets of food – not including turkeys and 300 bags of potatoes.

The union members spent six months raising $16,000 to spend on food for the annual event. Families attending receive two weeks of groceries as well as a turkey and a 10-pound bag of potatoes.

“We’re all interconnected in the community,” Johnson said. “This is our way of reaching out to the less fortunate.”

Johnson said all the food was purchased locally from Giant Eagle and Rulli Bros.

The Care and Share began in 1982 when nearly 50 percent of the UAW 1112’s membership were on layoff notice. Members rallied together to provide for their laid-off co-workers during the holiday season. Union members decided to continue Care and Share as an annual occurrence after the outpouring of support for the initial event.