June 19, 2008

Mike Gallagher, business manager of Local 793 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, speaks during a bulldozer unveiling ceremony held June 13, 2008 at the Toromont Caterpillar dealership in Kanata, Ont.

IUOE Local 793 helps raise cash to send D6K bulldozer to Kenya

OAKVILLE

Local 793 of the International Union of Operating Engineers has raised approximately $170,000 to send a D6K bulldozer and ripper to an organization that helps orphaned street children in Kenya.

A ceremony was held at the Toromont Caterpillar dealership in Kanata last week to unveil the bulldozer and officially send it on its way.

The equipment is being shipped from Montreal and will arrive in Mombasa in August. The equipment is destined for the Mully Children’s Foundation (MCF) in Kenya, a rehabilitation organization for street children, orphans, abandoned, abused and HIV/AIDS affected and infected children.

The bulldozer and ripper will be used to excavate dams to hold rainwater, build additional fish ponds, clear land for greenhouses, and build roads and other developmental projects. Toromont Caterpillar is shipping the equipment and Crossroads Inc. is paying for the transport. Local 793 business manager Mike Gallagher, who co-chaired the fund-raising campaign with Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn, said the MCF is a very important and worthwhile humanitarian organization and the union is glad to be able to lend a helping hand. “I am delighted that we were able to successfully raise the necessary funds to send this much-needed bulldozer and ripper to the Mully Children’s Foundation,” Gallagher said.

“The knowledge that this bulldozer will be put to work in Kenya for the children in these orphanages, giving them opportunity and hope, is truly miraculous.

Our union is truly making a difference in the lives of many needy children in Kenya.”

The funds were raised during a gala dinner at the union’s banquet hall in April. Local 793 donated $10,000 to the cause as well as the use of the banquet hall.

“The fundraiser was a huge undertaking, but Local 793, along with other building trades and unionized contractors in Ontario’s construction industry, accomplished the mission and made it an overwhelming success. There is an old African proverb that states: ‘The pillar of the world is hope.’ I feel that we are providing hope and a brighter future to a generation of Kenyan orphans,” Gallagher said.

He said construction unions like Local 793 have a long record of helping others in need and are driven by a desire to make a difference. The MCF was founded by Charles Mulli who came from a poverty-stricken family in Kenya. He was abandoned at an early age and left to fend for himself by begging on the streets. He eventually grew to be a wealthy man, but then one day decided to sell his holdings and turn his attention to helping street children in his homeland.

“The story of Charles Mulli and his rags-to riches missionary (life) is truly a miraculous one that can’t help but inspire anyone who takes the time to listen to it,” said Gallagher.

“These orphanages are a beacon of light and hope in an often dark world of despair.”

Dignitaries at the unveiling ceremony included Labour Minister Brad Duguid, Public Infrastructure Renewal Minister David Caplan, and Ottawa Centre MPP Yasir Naqvi. Local 793 of the International Union of Operating Engineers represents thousands of crane and heavy equipment operators across Ontario. The union has a head office, banquet hall and training campus in Oakville, and another training campus in Morrisburg, Ont.

DCN News Services

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