Machinists Union Raises $13,000 for Charity With August Events

SEATTLE — Machinists Union District Lodge 751 members raised more than $13,000 for charity with three community fundraising events in August.

“Our union is committed to two things: making our companies better places to work, and making our communities better places to live,” said District 751 President Tom Wroblewski. “The work our volunteers did with our August fundraisers certainly contributed to that.”

The events included:

• District Lodge 751’s annual “Dog Days” drag racing event at Pacific Raceways in Kent, which brought in more than $5,300;
• Local Lodge 751-A’s annual Bill Baker Memorial Steel & Wheel SuperShow in Everett, which raised more than $5,200; and
• Local Lodge 751-E’s annual Shoes for Puppies horseshoes tournament in Renton, which raised more than $2,800.

.

All the money raised in August will go to Guide Dogs of America, a California-based charity that provides trained service dogs free of charge to people from across the United States and Canada who are blind or have impaired vision. District 751 is the organization’s top fundraiser across North America.

Originally formed in 1935 to represent hourly workers at the Boeing Co., District Lodge 751 of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers now represents more than 32,000 working men and women at 48 employers across Washington, Oregon and California. In 2011, members of the union’s Machinists Volunteer Program gave more than 10,000 hours of their time to community service, while other volunteers collected more than $263,000 for Guide Dogs of America, the union’s charity of choice.

For more information about District 751, read the Machinists News.