A Labor of Love
It’s been said “Volunteers do not necessarily have the time. They have the heart.” Few in the Greater Lowell area have bigger hearts than the men and women of Local Laborers 429.
Under the leadership of Business Manager Tommy Erickson, the civic minded union members have recently volunteered their time to help the Megan House Foundation. In all, about two dozen local laborers have donated countless hours of work on their off days and hours last year to help transform the old Riverside School off Mammoth Road in Lowell into the facility now known as Megan’s House.
Not content with those efforts, they are currently helping with construction of four homes adjacent to the Megan House on Berry Road in Lowell. Three of those homes will be sold to help offset the costs of rehabbing the former school building and turning it into a residential treatment home for women overcoming addiction. Plans call for the fourth house to be raffled off as part of a national campaign to raise more funds, as well as awareness about the Megan House Foundation mission.
Besides their volunteer efforts, the men and women of Local 429 have also been generous with financial donations. Most recently, upon learning that residents of Megan’s House were looking for a used barbeque grill so they could cook meals outside in nice weather, the laborers dropped off a $200 check for the purchase of a new grill.
“We’ve lost three union members to opioids this year alone” says Erickson, when asked why the dedication to this particular cause. “On top of that, we’ve also lost family members. It’s a fight we’re all in one way or another.”
Erickson also says Local 429 would like to be the first to offer its hand and hire someone from Megan’s House, upon completion of the program, citing the growing of the female workforce as “a key component of what we do at Local 429.”
To learn more about Megan’s House or to help support the mission, visit www.themeganhouse.org