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When a grower for an emergency food bank needed help, IBEW Local 76s Brotherhood Committee was there to wire the Mother Earth Farm greenhouse. When the city of Tacoma decided to erect a 120-foot flagpole to commemorate 9-11, the Local 76 members were there, not only to lay conduit and string 5,000 feet of wire to light the flag, but to encourage the rest of the building trades to donate labor and materials. The beneficiaries of the locals good works over the past two and a half years include Habitat for Humanity, Campfire Boys and Girls and holiday gift drives for low-income community members.

The series of volunteer projects has earned Local 76 the Tacoma (Washington) City Council "City of Destiny" award. The mayor and city council will present the award to Local 76 at a ceremony on May 13 during which a video about its activities will be screened.

"These sparkies volunteer their skills for a huge variety of projects that benefit our communities in such profound ways," said Carrie Little, farm manager of the Mother Earth Farm, in her nomination of the Brotherhood Committee. "Often squeezing in time between work and home, dedicating weekends and precious time away from family, these incredible men and women have touched the lives of thousands."

Local 76s connection to the Mother Earth Farm, which grows organic produce for food banks in the Tacoma area, began three years ago during its first growing season. Members powered a pump for a nearby well for the eight-acre farm. When the neighboring farm owner had a change of heart and denied the farm access to the water, members went in and undid their work. This year, the Brotherhood Committee was back, wiring a donated farmhouse that today boasts 20,000 plants, Little said.

"Theyve done amazing thing for many nonprofits in the area," she said. "They see the value of doing a project like this."

In the true spirit of a supportive community that the award recognizes, Little said, some out-of-work members of Local 76 come to the food banks the farm supplies.

"I think its important that we as an organization get involved," said Local 76 Business Manager Michael Grunwald. "We work and live in this community. Weve been around a long time."

Grunwald said approximately 100 Local 76 members donating thousands of hours have participated in community service projects through the Brotherhood Committee in the past two years.

Each year when Habitat for Humanity builds several houses at once, up to 20 members of Local 76 are there, along with National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) contractors. And after Grunwald read of an idea to erect a flagpole to fly a 50-foot-long flag to commemorate September 11, he said signed up the local for the work. "Weve taken this philosophy that if it has lights on it, its IBEW work."

Without Local 76 getting involved in the project, which in turn encouraged other members of the building trades to help out, Grunwald said it would have been prohibitively expensive. As it happened, the $250,000 project cost only $60,000. Local 76s labor management committee supplied the materials and the 600 hours of labor was donated, he said. The project involved trenching undergound, installing conduit and pulling 5,000 feet of wire to the site of the flagpole.

Often, the projects chosen by the Brotherhood Committee are so interesting and high-profile, they have to turn away volunteers, Grunwald said. The investment of time and effort often has returns in the form of goodwill, civic attention and sometimes increased business for signatory contractors.

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