AFL-CIO members hook local youth on fishing
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MARIETTA -- About 100 young anglers Saturday participated in a day filled with wiggly nightcrawlers, bass and bluegill thanks to a free Take Kids Fishing Day at Buckeye Park.
The community event was sponsored by the Ohio AFL-CIO and hosted by the Union Sportsmen's Alliance and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 972,
The goal was to introduce youth aged 2-15 to fishing and the great outdoors. On hand were volunteers from Local 972 who put together poles, cooked hot dogs and distributed goodie bags.
Take Kids Fishing Day put a face on the union, Nicole Webster, a volunteer and an officer with Local 972, said.
"But it's also a way for us to give back to the community and let them know that we're not just here for business," Webster said. "It's a way for us to bring our community together."
The family-friendly event was part of the free community-based Take Kids Fishing Day events organized through the Union Work Boots on the Ground program with support from national partners Provost Umphrey Law Firm, Union Plus and Humana and founding partners UIG, ULLICO, Bank of Labor, AFL-CIO Investment Trust Corp. and Buck Knives.
Work Boots on the Ground joins union members willing to volunteer their time and expertise to complete conservation infrastructure projects and mentor youth in the outdoors.
Each youth participant received a rod and reel combo and a deer call to take home.
For volunteer and fellow organizer Kyle Blinn, an officer with IBEW Local 972, that was a definite highlight for the kids and for him.
"There was a kid there who asked if he could keep the pole and game call," Blinn said. "We told him he could keep them. He said he'd never gotten anything like that before. That tugged at my heartstrings a bit."
The Union Sportsmen's Alliance is a nonprofit organization whose members hunt, fish, shoot and volunteer their skills for conservation. Work Boots on the Ground is the group's flagship conservation program.