In a wide room stacked with donated gifts at the Portland Laborers training center, volunteers pored over printouts listing the ages and interests of children. The job was to survey piles of presents — from Calico Critters and toy drills to Bluetooth speakers and Polaroid cameras — and select items for each family.
The Dec. 11 volunteer session was part of Presents from Partners, an annual holiday gift distribution serving union families in need. Every year, Labor’s Community Service Agency (LCSA) collects gifts, food, and money donated by unions and union members, and delivers them to the homes of union members. This year Presents from Partners is delivering gifts to more than 500 children.
Union members who can’t afford holiday gifts for their children are referred to Presents from Partners by their unions. Families can be referred if they’ve been laid off, are facing big bills or loss of income from a medical issue, or are otherwise experiencing economic hardship.
To get gifts to each family’s door, LCSA collects referrals from unions, contacts each referred member to get information on their children’s wishlists, gathers and sorts gifts and food items, and coordinates volunteer sessions to help with each step of the process through to the Dec. 20 deliveries. Families receive gifts for each child and a box of food.
Some unions hold annual toy drives, collecting gifts and sending them to LCSA. Others raise money and then go shopping for gifts. Laborers Local 737 collected donations from members, provided LCSA space to sort and pack gifts, and will help bring gifts to families located outside the Portland Metro area. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757 uses its annual retiree holiday luncheon to gather donated gifts. Ironworkers Local 29 donated food and helped transport donated toys.
LCSA encourages donors to shop local, rather than sending all their business to non-union Amazon. The program has found that older teens are happier with a gift card than pre-selected gifts, so those teens get Fred Meyer gift cards.
Gifts for older kids can sometimes be in short supply. Ellenberger said participants from past years had said some of the gifts for teens were childish and not great fits. But this year, some donors focused on gifts for kids aged 10 and up.
At the Dec. 11 volunteer session, Laborers Local 737 member Felisha Senske picked presents with her son, comparing gift wish lists with the stacks of gifts. Senske said she didn’t have good Christmases growing up, but now she wants to give back and bring her son along. It’s her third year volunteering with the program, and she signed up both to pack gifts into bags and to deliver them.
“This is my favorite time of year. All kids should get presents,” she said.
Presents from Partners coordinator Kate Ellenberger said the program had received referrals for nearly 200 families as of Dec. 11, putting it on track to exceed last year’s numbers. Ellenberger said there are typically extra gifts left over after volunteers pack bags for each child in the referred families. Those extra gifts are distributed to kids through other avenues, like the Machinists union, which distributes them to foster kids.
