Bikes and boxes help make holidays merry

Louisville Water and AFSCME Local Union 1683 each donated $1,000 to support two holiday programs that benefit families throughout our community: Bikes or Bust and Boxes of Love.

Held Nov. 19 – 23, Bikes or Bust collected more than 2,000 bicycles for Toys for Tots and the Salvation Army. Union President Adam Carter is shown in the photo at a Bikes or Bust event with his daughters and his older daughter’s boyfriend.

More union members and other Louisville Water employees have been involved in the event in past years, but the Bikes or Bust hosts — Q103.1, Metro United Way, and the Greater Louisville Central Labor Council (GLCLC) — kept in-person participation to a minimum this year because of the pandemic.

The GLCLC will host Boxes of Love, which provides meal boxes for needy families, at Fourth Street Live on Wed., Dec. 23.

The union also adopted four children through the Salvation Army Angel Tree program; two boys and two girls. Plumber Leader Shawn Shaw tried to make sure the children got everything on their lists and shopped for deals on toys, shoes, coats and other clothing.
This is the second year the union has participated in the Angel Tree program. They adopted 2 children last year.