For generous souls everywhere, the winter holidays are an extra-special time of giving. The brothers and sisters of the IBEW collect warm coats and clothes, run turkey and toy drives, stock food banks, prepare and serve hot meals, and make their communities festive and bright with magical lighting displays.
"But those acts of kindness and so many others aren't limited to the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's. When the IBEW says, "'Tis the season," it applies to all of them — winter, spring, summer and fall.
The pages of The Electrical Worker can only scratch the surface of the countless good deeds of locals, members and retirees throughout the year.
In 2023, that sampling included Alabama members building a Habitat for Humanity home; Oklahoma City Local 1141 volunteers packing thousands of meals for children; a bicycling couple out of South Bend, Ind., Local 153 and Phoenix Local 640 riding 4,000 miles to fight childhood cancer; a Pittsburgh Local 5 wireman mentoring a high school robotics team; IBEW sisters from Portland, Ore., Local 48 honoring real-life Rosie the Riveter centenarians; St. Louis Local 1 members wiring a shelter for senior dogs and cats; Syracuse, N.Y., Local 43 electricians upgrading a youth center; and, among the year-round hustle at the Hudson Unit of East Windsor, N.J., Local 827, delivering 7½ tons of groceries to a food pantry, delighting disadvantaged children with Santa and gifts, and raising money for causes near and far.
The local's most faraway cause this year was desperate IBEW families in Hawaii after August's wildfire, a call also answered by members attending the RENEW conference in New Orleans that week, along with Santa Rosa, Calif., Local 551. Doubtless, there are many others.
That's the best kind of problem to have: more stories of goodwill than we could ever tell. But this month, we inch a tiny fraction closer by presenting five stories about the efforts of IBEW volunteers from one side of the continent to the other. To read them, click the links below.
From the staff of The Electrical Worker, Happy Holidays!