IBEW Local 654 Will Donate Hot Lunches to Hospital Workers for the Third Time This Month

IBEW Local 654 — the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers located in Upper Chichester Township, PA — will be teaming up with the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) and Lia’s Catering for a third time to help support hospital workers. For this third donation, IBEW will be serving 600 hot lunches to the workers at Chester County Hospital on Thursday, April 23rd.

These hot lunch donations are IBEW Local 654’s way of showing how much it appreciates all of the work that hospital workers are doing right now in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to this donation to Chester County Hospital, IBEW Local 654 also brought 500 lunches to hospital workers at Crozer-Chester Medical Center and 150 lunches to hospital workers at Riddle Hospital.

“Our community continues to care for us. That’s why on Thursday, April 23, the members of the local electricians’ union IBEW 654 — which has done a lot of work at Chester County Hospital over the years — will be providing meals for sta at the hospital,” said Paul Mullen, Local 654’s Business Manager.

Chester County Hospital, located in West Chester, PA and part of Penn Medicine, is a 248-bed inpatient complex. This hospital, which is dedicated to the health and well-being of the people in Chester County and its surrounding areas, also oers outpatient services to satellite locations in nearby Exton, West Goshen, New Garden, Jennersville and Kennett Square.

“All of us are so grateful for the tremendous support we have been receiving from our local industries and businesses including IBEW Local 654,” said Michael J. Duncan, President and CEO, Chester County Hospital. “The donations that we have been given have gone a long way in supporting not only our front line sta but employees throughout the hospital who have been impacted by COVID.”

Due to the challenges that electrical workers are facing, the NECA was excited to team up with Local 654, stating: “The local NECA member businesses are proud to support IBEW Local 654’s decision to give back to the community,” said Ed Collison, the Chairman of NECA’s Chester Division. “Many of our project sites have been halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, many Local 654 members are temporarily unemployed. Paul [Mullen] and the leadership team at Local 654 are able to see beyond our temporary setback, to the greater need within the community. It’s a small example of IBEW Local 654’s dedication to the community where their members live and work.”

Although IBEW Local 654’s main goal is to oer apprenticeships and training programs to help electrical contractors strengthen their knowledge and talent, Local 654 also strongly believes that it is very important to give back to the community, and it has been doing so for over 80 years. Whether it is through cleaning local parks and streets, doing maintenance in local schools and churches or providing hot lunches to hospital workers in times of crisis, Local 654 members — of which there are just under 700 — feel that it is a privilege to help the community in whatever way they can.

BEW Local 654 Gives Back to the Community Again — Provides Hot Lunches to Hospital Workers at Riddle Hospital

IBEW Local 654 teamed up with the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) and Lia’s Catering to once again show their gratitude by providing 150 hot lunches to hospital workers. This time, the workers at Riddle Hospital, part of Main Line Health, were the lucky recipients.

This is the second hospital that IBEW has served this month in response to all of the hard work that hospital workers are putting in to help keep communities safe during the coronavirus pandemic. IBEW, NECA and Lia’s Catering delivered these 150 lunches to Riddle Hospital on Thursday, April 16th and Friday, April 17th — 100 for those working the day shift, 50 for those working the night shift.

Riddle Hospital, which is located in Media, PA, oers a full range of health care services. With a dedicated team of healthcare professionals and advanced technology, Riddle Hospital has been recognized for their exceptional quality the last ve years by the Joint Commission. It was also named among U.S. News & World Report’s Best Regional Hospitals for the Philadelphia metro area for excellence in three types of care.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, IBEW Local 654 knows that hospital workers are working long, dicult hours right now, and they are knowingly — and willingly — putting themselves in harm’s way to help others overcome the coronavirus. Because of this, Local 654 members — who are known for giving back to the community — wanted to say thank you to Riddle Hospital’s workers. In order to make a substantial impact in these workers’ day, they decided to team up with other local organizations — NECA and Lia’s Catering — so they could provide 150 hot lunches to the workers at Riddle Hospital.

“Health care workers are some of the most important members of our community and this crisis has highlighted that even more,” commented Paul Mullen, Local 654’s Business Manager. “They are the ones who are running full speed into areas that are highly contagious and helping everyone in need of care. They need to be taken care of so that they can continue to do their jobs.” Mullen went on to state that, “IBEW 654 members are continuing to do some essential work inside the hospital and are seeing rsthand the tireless dedication and sacrices of the health care sta at Riddle. We are proud that we were able to provide lunches to the vital sta at Riddle that are taking care of sick patients and are working to keep the rest of our community safe.”

Due to the challenges that electrical workers are facing, the NECA was excited to team up with Local 654, stating: “The local NECA member businesses are proud to support IBEW Local 654’s decision to give back to the community,” said Ed Collison, the Chairman of NECA’s Chester Division. “Many of our project sites have been halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, many Local 654 members are temporarily unemployed.

Paul [Mullen] and the leadership team at Local 654 are able to see beyond our temporary setback, to the greater need within the community. It’s a small example of IBEW Local 654’s dedication to the community where their members live and work.”

“We are so thankful to have community partners like IBEW Local 654,” said Dan Green, executive director, Riddle HealthCare Foundation. “Our team on the front line is working hard day and night to ensure the safety of all in our community, and generous meal donations like this one help fuel our sta and keep their morale high.”

Although IBEW Local 654’s main goal is to oer apprenticeships and training programs to help electrical contractors strengthen their knowledge and talent, Local 654 also strongly believes that it is very important to give back to the community, and it has been doing so for over 80 years. Whether it is through cleaning local parks and streets, doing maintenance in local schools and churches or providing hot lunches to hospital workers in times of crisis, Local 654 members — of which there are just under 700 — feel that it is a privilege to help the community in whatever way they can.

IBEW Local 654 held a COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic for Public Safety and IBEW Workers

In honor of Superintendent Scott Mahoney

 

The COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic was held on Wednesday, June 9th from Noon - 6PM at the IBEW Local 654 Hall in Boothwyn, PA.

 

The single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine was given. Personell who got vaccinated recived a free buffet lunch and beverages. They were also entered into a raffle to win $1,000, a Yeti cooler and Union soccer tickets.

 

Event hosted by:

The Delaware County Fraternal Order of Police, Delco Police Chief's Association, the District Attorney's Office, Delaware County Council, IAFF Locals 1400 and 2493 in partnership with the IBEW Local 654.

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International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 654 collecting Toys for Tots

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Photos by Maureen Mulloney

By KATHLEEN E. CAREY | delcotimes.com

November 14, 2021

 

UPPER CHICHESTER – It may be a little early to break out the Christmas tunes but the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 654 is asking the community’s help to help make the holidays brighter for those less fortunate.

 

The IBEW is collecting new, unwrapped toys for a distribution extravaganza featuring 93.3 WMMR’s Jacky Bam Bam as toys are distributed throughout the Delco community.

 

It all started out with one Marine and a pandemic food drive.

 

When the pandemic hit and everything was shut down, IBEW members made a choice.

 

“We were shocked,” IBEW Business Manager Paul Mullen said. “For 654, instead of taking 2020 and feeling sorry for ourselves, we decided to give back.”

One way they did that was by providing meals for frontline employees in the Crozer Health system and at Riddle Hospital. They also held a food drive in June 2020.

 

“I couldn’t get over the generosity of the whole community,” Mullen said. The union was able to collect and distribute more than 30 trucks full of food while raising $15,000 for more.

 

They had wanted to do something for Christmas but were unable to do so. Then, this year, IBEW member and Marine Fred Ries stepped forward.

 

Ries, who’s been in the IBEW for three years, served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2011 through 2017.When he was in the Reserves, he participated in the Toys for Tots with his fellow Marines at the Folsom center. And, he continued to collect toys to take them over for the Marine distribution.

 

“I’ve done this myself,” Ries said. “I’d go down there. Every year, they already had the toys. Volunteers would separate the toys. So, I started doing my own toy collections for them.”

 

As he was finishing his Reserves, he began his apprenticeship with the IBEW, where Mullen asked him to start a Veterans Committee.

 

“I got the word out and guys started bringing me toys,” Ries said.

 

And, the thought came to him to make it bigger.

 

“One of the first things I said to (Mullen was) ‘I’ve been doing this Toys for Tots, if you get the whole local behind it, it’ll just be that much more better,” Ries said.

 

Now, there’s a collection box stationed at the IBEW hall.

 

“It worked out great,” Ries said. “The union has a lot of members. We’re able to get this whole thing going.”

 

And, everything stays local.

 

“All the toys we collect will be for children in Delaware County,” Ries said. “It goes directly back into our community. It takes a lot of the burden off the parents who maybe can’t afford to get the kids everything. It’s for parents as much as the kids.”

 

He said those wanting to donate and those wanting to receive a toy can go to toysfortots.org for information about campaigns in their area.

 

Today, the public as well as IBEW members and families are welcome to the toy drive event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

 

“You can come and drop the toys off and say hi,” Ries said.

 

In the meantime, Mullen said the community can drop toys off at the IBEW hall during business hours, although they’re welcome to drop them off at night or Saturdays as there’s usually people there.

 

“We can always adjust our schedule,” Mullen said.

 

The IBEW members also thanked the Fraternal Order of Police and state Reps. Craig Williams, R-160 of Upper Chichester, Chris Quinn, R-168 of Middletown and Jennifer O’Mara, D-165, of Springfield for helping with the toy drive by collecting toys and having collection bins in their offices.