Thousands of Fire Fighters (IAFF) who were on the front lines in the response to Superstorm Sandy lost their own homes and personal lives while working hard to save the lives and homes of others. Many of them are now struggling and need direct financial assistance immediately. Despite the help they are receiving from family, friends and their fellow IAFF members, they need more help in starting their lives over.

If you live in the Palm Beach, Fla., Treasure Coast area and want to help make Thanksgiving happen for families who might need a boost, you can join the Big Heart Brigade’s Thanksgiving Feast, 2012. Supported by the United Way of Palm Beach County Partnership, which includes the Palm Beach-Treasure Coast AFL-CIO, the Big Heart Brigade is looking for 4,000 volunteers who can help prepare, cook, package and distribute the nearly 100,000 meals for the homeless and disadvantaged.

UNITE HERE Local 54 casino workers in Atlantic City, N.J., are pitching in to help their members and the local community impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Local 54 has started a Helping Hands Relief Center to provide the public with information and help to apply for services. Local 54 President Bob McDevitt told the Press of Atlantic City newspaper:

There is an incredible need in the community....We felt we should coordinate this. As far as organizations go, we connect to most of the people.

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. 

As the mercury began to dip earlier this fall and furnaces cranked up in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area, a near tragedy drove home the importance of the community service partnership between Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA) Locals 539 and 455 and the Minnesota Mechanical Contractors Association.

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.

As unpatriotic as it sounds, some people would deny American citizens the right to vote, even those who are fully entitled to cast their ballot. The only way to make sure to avoid being the victim of such tactics is to know what your rights are and know who to talk to if you have a problem.

Hurricane Sandy, one of the largest hurricanes in decades, is slamming into the mid-Atlantic and northeast United States starting late Sunday. Bill Hauenstein, AFL-CIO Community Services liaison for the Northeast region, provides useful links for union leaders, members and families preparing for and dealing with Sandy’s impact and aftermath.

What are you doing to help your union brothers and sisters weather the storm?

Students at the 19 schools in Jefferson Parish, La., are getting more than 50,000 new books and, best of all, those books are free. Last week, the Jefferson Federation of Teachers (an AFT affiliate), union and community volunteers began sorting the 2,000 boxes of books that will be distributed during the next month. The book distribution is part of a nationwide joint project between AFT and First Book, a nonprofit organization that distributes books to children from low-income families

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.