Together with The Salvation Army, the AFA, & IAM are hosting a donation drive to give back to our communities.  Salvation Army trucks will be in the parking lot of Northwest Airlines Building C (34th Avenue and East 75th Street) to collect gently used or new winter coats and clothes, new toys and non-perishable food items.  Monetary donations are accepted at Wings Financial. 

For more information, contact AFA at 952-241-4127 or IAM Local 1833 at 612-790-2221.

Neighbors Strengthening Wright Communities began as a partnership project between the Wright County Labor Council, Working Partnerships and Faith in Action of Wright County to help elderly and disabled individuals get their homes ready for winter. Since then, the project has grown to include other organizations and municipalities joining the community effort by organizing their own service events on Saturday, October 3rd!

Volunteer activities will include lawn mowing, raking, cleaning gutters, and light house work.

If you are interested in volunteering to help Wright county community members in need on October 3rd -please sign up here, or contact Betsy Hunter at 612-379-8130 X112.

Memorial Blood Centers will have a bloodmobile parked in front of the Minneapolis Labor Centre (312 Central Avenue) between 11am and 3pm on Tuesday, September 15th.  Please consider donating blood!

Most people (more than 60 percent of the population) are eligible to donate blood. 

Basic guidelines:
You must be at least 17 years of age- 16 with parental permission.
You must weigh at least 110 pounds, if 16 weigh at least 130 lbs. and be at least 5 feet tall.
You should be in general good health and have no symptoms of infection at the time of donation. You may safely donate whole blood once every eight weeks (56 days). You should eat a good meal in the six hours before donating and have had adequate sleep in the past 24 hours.

For the safety of donors and recipients, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has guidelines and restrictions about donation eligibility.  Memorial Blood Centers' staff will determine your eligibility either before or at the time of donation.

For more information, or to sign up, please contact Betsy Hunter at 612-379-8130 X112 or betsy@workingpartnerships.org.

Chaska's Christmas in May is a non-profit organization that enlists volunteers and coordinates a one-day work project to repair and rehabilitate the homes of Chaska residents who have neither the financial nor physical ability to maintain their home.  Skilled and unskilled volunteers do the work, which can include painting, plumbing, carpentry, electrical work, hauling, cleaning, and landscaping.

To be a volunteer, call Betsy Hunter or Gayle McMahon at 612-379-4206.

Fishing, food, family and music. All right there on the north end of Knife Lake. This was Jolly Jolstad’s beloved winter home away from home, where every year the Local 49er would put another season of construction work behind him, drop a lure through a hole in the ice and pull out one crappie after another.

Now, Greg “Jolly” Jolstad is counting on you to do the same atop that frozen-over slice of heaven near his lifelong home of Mora and share memories while helping a young person make a way in this world.

Jolstad’s brothers and sisters, who still call Mora home, again this year are staging the second-annual “Jolly’s Jiggin Jamboree” ice-fishing tournament on Feb. 21. This afternoon fund-raiser is in memory of Jolly, the Local 49er who gave his life while working on the Interstate 35W Bridge when it collapsed on a hot August evening in 2007.

The money raised from the jamboree feeds a memorial scholarship fund for a current Mora High School senior to use for post-secondary education in the trades and labor. Jolly graduated from Mora in 1980.

Last year, the inaugural jamboree drew nearly 300 people and collected about $7,000.

“We were overwhelmed by the response from all his friends and union brothers,” said Gary Jolstad, Jolly’s brother. “The outpouring of love and support for Jolly was amazing. It was awesome.”

Jolly’s family needed little time to determine what activity to choose as the centerpiece for this good cause.

“Ice fishing was Greg’s passion,” said Jill Jolstad, Jolly’s sister-in-law. ”Almost everyday in the winter – the temperature never mattered ¬-- Greg would walk out to his favorite fishing hole on Knife Lake. He always caught the most fish – always had a keen sense for knowing where on the lake the fish were biting.”

Along with tipping a hard hat to Jolly and putting a young person on the path to a rewarding and prosperous profession, Gary Jolstad said the jamboree is also about “getting friends and former co-workers together to remember my brother.”

“There is nothing Jolly would like to do more than go crappie fishing with friends.  So we want to make sure at least one winter day each year he still can.”

To participate in the jamboree (which includes prize drawings), contact Gary and Jill Jolstad at 763-717-1644 or send an e-mail to jjill3@comcast.net.

You don’t have to bundle up to honor Jolly’s memory. Donations can be mailed to: Greg Jolstad Memorial Scholarship Fund, People’s Bank of Mora, 45 Union St. N.,  Mora, MN  55051.

Visit the website http://www.mlkday.gov/ to find a volunteer opportunity in your neighborhood!