Will Fischer, who leads AFL-CIO Community Services, sends us this update welcoming the new class of AFL-CIO Community Services Liaisons:

AFL-CIO Community Services is halfway through wrapping up its annual new staff training. New AFL-CIO Community Services Liaisons and community services representatives from around the country came to Washington, D.C., to receive training that provides them with skills necessary to be more effective in their jobs.

Staff are familiarized with the national AFL-CIO Community Services Network and how Community Services connects to other grassroots work of the AFL-CIO. 

More than 700 children and their families hunted for eggs and chatted with the Easter Bunny at the Monroe/Lenawee County AFL-CIO Central Labor Council and the United Way of Monroe County's sixth annual community Easter egg hunt at Munson Park last Saturday. 

Hundreds of Omaha, Neb., area residents worked up a sweat to raise money for the Omaha-area Energy Assistance Program. Union members from Electrical Workers (IBEW) locals 1483 and 1521 and the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM) Local 70-558 participated in the Heartland Walk for Warmth.

The historic bond between the labor and civil rights movements will be celebrated this weekend as the AFL-CIO honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision that collective action—whether at the voting booth or at the workplace—mobilizes participants to continue their work to make King’s dream a reality.

Union members are working to keep area residents warm this winter with Brown County United Way and the Greater Green Bay Labor Council Community Services Committee. The two groups are hosting the second annual Blanketing Brown County drive, collecting new and gently used blankets for distribution to area shelters and agencies. Blanketing Brown County begins today and continues through Jan. 29.

Pennsylvania union members were busy this holiday as they continued a 40-year tradition of filling stockings with sweet treats for children with special needs. 

Check out the AFL-CIO's new In Our Communities website feature, "Union Members Fashion Super-Sized Salvation Army Kettle for the Holidays."

Around the holidays, grocery store shoppers expect to see a cheerful person in a Santa hat and red apron, ringing a bell and collecting donations in the iconic Salvation Army red kettle.

Many purveyors of financial advice are trying to sell you something, whether it's insurance, a retirement plan or even a mortgage. But bias-free financial advice isn't impossible to find. The National Labor College has a great online resource, NLC Invested, which provides some helpful financial tips on major life developments such as saving for a home purchase, preparing for a new child, sending a child to college, retirement, debt reduction, foreclosure and more. 

Ron Oliver, AFL-CIO Community Services liaison in Erie, Pa., tells us last night the local labor movement there worked with community allies to create a safe, fun Halloween party for inner-city children. Some 50 to 60 little goblins and superheroes gathered at a local church and had a great time munching chips and cupcakes. Mmmmmmmmm.

The Painters and Allied Trades for Children's Hope Foundation (PATCH) has announced a new partnership with United Cerebral Palsy's My Child Without Limits. 

For every new "like" on the PATCH Facebook page (www.facebook.com/PATCHFoundation) or new follower on Twitter (www.twitter.com/PATCHFoundation), PATCH will donate $1 to UCP's My Child Without Limits. 

To learn more about PATCH, please visit www.iupat.org/patch.