WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Pictured above, United Way of Greater Niagara President and CEO Connie Brown (on the left), Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1168 Health and Safety Officer Denise Abbott and Bill Jakobi, who serves as United Way Labor Liaison to the Niagara-Orleans Labor Council, recently met with WNYLaborToday.com to discuss the role Organized Labor plays in the annual United Way Fundraising campaign, which kicks off on Friday (September 18th).  Abbott has been named as this year’s Labor Co-Chair.  (WNYLaborToday.com Photo)

(SANBORN, NEW YORK) – The United Way of Greater Niagara’s 29 partner agencies that serve nearly 40 area programs is needed more than ever - right now - due to what Essential and Front Line Working People and their families are coping with during this continuing COVID-19 Pandemic.

And Organized Labor, which has played a historical role in annually helping to raise about 40% of the overall fundraising goal through payroll deductions, is ready to play that role again in 2020 as the United Way kicks off its yearly campaign on Friday (September 18th) with its eyes set on hitting the $1 million mark.

Denise Abbott - who is a Nurse, serves as Health and Safety Officer for Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1168, is a Trustee on the Niagara-Orleans AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, and is President of the Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, is serving as the Labor Co-Chair of this year’s United Way Drive in Niagara County. 

“I said ‘yes’ when they asked me ‘because of the important role the United Way plays in the Niagara County Labor Movement,’” Abbott told WNYLaborToday.com during a recent interview at the United Way’s headquarters in Sanborn.  “They ‘help the community in so many ways and we want to make sure it keeps going because I’ve seen what they’ve done.”’

Bill Jakobi, who serves as United Way Labor Liaison to the Niagara-Orleans Labor Council, said Abbott was the “number one choice” to serve as Labor Chair after having a conversation with Labor Council President Jim Briggs.

“Denise is ‘so connected across the Western New York Labor Movement in all aspects and it’s great she stepped up’” to become Labor Co-Chair, Jakobi (Pictured Below With Abbott/WNYLaborToday.com Photo) told Your On-Line Labor Newspaper.

Said Labor Council President Briggs: “Denise was the ‘right’ choice ‘given this time of the pandemic.’  Having an Essential/Front Line Worker who is taking care of people in a hospital is ‘refreshing’ (serving as the Labor Co-Chair).” 

United Way of Greater Niagara President and CEO Connie Brown said she was “thrilled” with Abbott’s commitment to the 2020 drive, whose goal is to match 2019’s total “of nearly one million dollars” - even with the ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic.

“Denise ‘is so very active’ with the Niagara Labor Council ‘and she’s is also a Nurse, so we owe her our thanks for being an Essential Worker,’” Brown told WNYLaborToday.com. “And we ‘just cannot (forget the role) Labor plays (in the United Way’s annual drive).’  ‘We couldn’t do this without our Labor partners - and our partners in the business community.’”

“And our needs ‘are even greater than they were a year ago because of COVID,’” Brown added.  “We have (29) Partner Agencies and (39) programs (that the United Way is involved with), from food pantries to mental health, domestic violence and child care programs.”

And it’s those child care programs that are turning out to be so very important these days as Essential Employees continue to go to work to provide everyone else with what they need during the pandemic, but who also have to grapple with finding child care for their children so they can go to work every day.

“We ‘were already helping meet the child care needs of Workers across Niagara County when the pandemic first hit for Nurses, Firefighters, Police Officers, Bus Drivers and Grocery Store Workers,’” Jakobi said. 

“When it ‘became clear it was a (full-blown) pandemic, the United Way stepped up,’” Abbott said.  “And child care ‘was one of those ways.’  ‘For most, child care has been provided for free or for at little cost – five dollars (a day).’  ‘No one (who needed help) was turned away.’  And it was ‘truly needed because it helped keep essential services running because those Workers with children would have not been able to show up for work.’”

Child care was provided through several grants to United Way Partner Agencies that was administered by the United Way of Greater Niagara, including through the Niagara Falls Boys & Girls Club and Youth Mentoring Services in Lockport - which received $20,000 each.

In fact, the Niagara Falls Boys & Girls Club was taking care of 70 kids a day beginning in late March and another 150 kids a day during a Summer Camp it just ran.

“The ‘feedback’s been amazing,’” Niagara Falls Boys & Girls Club CEO Rebecca Vincheski told WNYLaborToday.com. “(Parents) ‘cry - they’re under a lot of pressure.’  I’m a parent myself and people ‘don’t budget extra’ child care costs.  We’ve had Nurses, Educators, Construction Workers and Grocery Store Workers (whose kids have been in the program).  We even had a single Dad ‘and we can’t lump on additional (child care) costs while they’re dealing with all this chaos.’  ‘Now, they can continue to go to work with peace of mind.’  And we’re ‘not just babysitting.’  There was a ‘huge need and a big hole to fill - and the best way to get this done is through the United Way.’  ‘They are the most effective way to give your donation to.’  ‘They (literally) turn every penny into five and maximize every gift they get.’”

Meanwhile, Youth Mentoring Services is taking care of nearly 30 kids a day, with another 20 open slots still yet to fill, the organization’s CEO – Sue Capel, a former Special Ed Teacher and School Administrator, tells Your On-Line Labor Newspaper.

“You ‘have to be there when there’s a need and we were able to step up because of our connection to the United Way,’” she said.  “We’ve been ‘able to offer a safe, fun and secure program.’  ‘And for many of the parents, it was a relief - and that tells you the whole story.” 

And it’s not just child care that’s been making a difference for Essential Workers and their families in Niagara County.

The United Way says the lives of 135,000 Niagara County residents have been improved through funding to its partner agencies on a yearly basis and that 85 cents of every dollar raised by the non-profit stays local - which is an important point to make when seeking donations.

“Don’t ‘forget’ food pantries when so many Workers ‘were either laid off or furloughed, or quarantined because of the (Coronavirus) illness.’  ‘There was a big need for that.’  ‘That’s how a lot of people helped feed their families,’” Abbott pointed out.

“These are ‘unprecedented’ times,” Jakobi added.  “And the United Way ‘is in the forefront of the COVID-19 Pandemic now - more than ever.’  That’s why giving to the United Way ‘is the best way to help people.’  Our children ‘are kept safe and have access to education and hard-working families are then able to maintain their incomes.’  ‘One gift of any size has the power to transform lives across the Niagara Community.’”

“People ‘need to realize’ the United Way ‘is not a benefit to most of our Union Members,’” Labor Council President Briggs told WNYLaborToday.com.  “The United Way ‘has always been there’ (to help Union Members negatively impacted) when there were plant shutdowns, ‘but it’s our general population of the county who (most) use their services.’  While Labor accounts for (40% of what’s raised), ‘if Labor doesn’t step up and help raise that overall goal - it’s our neighbors and friends who will be the ones to suffer (in the long run).’  This is a ‘people’ issue and Labor ‘has to take a stand for the people.’’”

Key Bank Vice President Nicolas Maniccia is serving as the Business Co-Chair of the United Way of Greater Niagara’s 2020 Fundraising Drive.