Service & Solidarity Spotlight: St. Louis IBEW Members Help Community Following Natural Disaster

Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.

Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1 and its National Electrical Contractors Association contractors were honored in April with an Innovation in Philanthropy Award in recognition of their efforts to help families recover from a tornado that tore through St. Louis last year.

The joint recovery initiative, called Reconnect STL, donated hundreds of thousands of dollars and brought together city officials, suppliers and various agencies to speed up the restoration of power. Their efforts were lauded at a gala sponsored by the St. Louis Business Journal.

“Fly-by-night contractors were exploiting vulnerable people,” the news outlet wrote. “Others had lost important documents, and insurance providers denied claims, if they even had insurance. They needed professional help. The city couldn’t wait for federal aid to arrive. It had to act, and industry leaders answered the call.”