Union volunteers helped pack and ship more than 1,600 "Boxes of Love" Monday

By BERRY CRAIG

AFT KY Local 1360

An estimated 200 union members and other community volunteers braved pre-dawn sub-freezing temperatures Monday morning to start making Christmas merrier for about 1,600 Louisville area families.

"The Greater Louisville Central Labor Council works in conjunction with Metro United Way to do our part to help feed those less fortunate in the Christmas season," said Kirk Gillenwaters, president of the Kentucky Alliance for Retired Americans and a UAW Local 862 retiree.  

This year was the 14th annual edition of the Derby City's "Boxes of Love" program.

"We put together over 1,600 boxes of Christmas dinners which consisted of ham, green beans, other vegetables, corn muffins and cake," he said.

Gillenwaters said the mercury was hovering around 24 degrees when the volunteers arrived at 6 a.m. at Fourth Street Live! in downtown Louisville to assemble the boxes for delivery in the Derby City and its environs. "It was a little bit chilly," he said with a chuckle.

After volunteers packed the Boxes of Love, first responders, veterans and union members trucked the meals to other veterans, families in need and soldiers at nearby Fort Knox, according to WDRB.com. "Each meal will feed a family of four," Gillenwaters said.

He said it took the volunteers a little more than two hours to pack the boxes for shipping. "I think we set a record for both the time and the number of boxes that we completed."

Added Gillenwaters: "It was very rewarding especially for somebody my age -- 72 -- who's been in the labor movement for fifty-something years. But union members all over the country volunteer their time, especially for other people who are less fortunate than those of us who have good jobs and good benefits.

"Christmas can be a very emotional time for them. We know we are touching 1,600 families out there. It means there will be 1,600 families who will have an incredible meal on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. It's their choice. What we're able to do is so fulfilling in our hearts."

He said the Boxes of Love program helps "ensure people who sometimes think that they're forgotten are not forgotten."  

Counting today's deliveries, the program, which began in 2010, has provided 17.700 boxes, which have fed nearly 80,000 people, WDRB reported.