• Posted: March 15, 2021
• better careers, better communities, IBEW Local 134, IBEW Local 134’s Helping Hands Fund, YouTube video

The “Brotherhood” in International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) reminds all members, brothers and sisters alike, that if they are a member, they are family. And when times are hard or when tragedy strikes, family is there to help and support you through the tough times.

Nothing exemplifies this sense of family helping family in the IBEW more than IBEW Local 134’s Helping Hands Fund, a 501c3 charitable organization that helps see members and their families through hard times by providing both emotional and financial support as needed. 

On Sunday, March 7, the Helping Hands Fund was featured on ABC 7’s Built to Last, an Emmy-nominated program that features trade union members and contractors from around the Chicagoland area. The program highlighted just a few of the hundreds of members of IBEW Local 134 who have been the recipient of the Brotherhood’s love and generosity through the years. 

Starting in 2011 with a financial donation from Terry Allen, Local 134’s business manager at the time,  the Helping Hands Fund would initially give gift cards to members who found themselves out of work and down on their luck. Through the years, the efforts of the 9-member committee have grown exponentially to help in more diverse ways. Some of their support includes helping pay the mortgage of an injured member or providing emotional and financial support for families who are dealing with catastrophic illness and subsequent medical bills. 

Supported through various fundraisers and donations from members and community partners, the Helping Hand Fund has been able to help over 400 members and their families at a time when they needed it most.

One member featured on ABC 7’s Build to Last describes the pain and worry that enveloped his family after his young daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. When Daniel Cordova was suddenly faced with helping his daughter fight for her life, the Helping Hands Fund embraced the family when it was at its lowest. The fund not only helped the family financially with the growing mountain of medical bills, but they were there, physically and emotionally, to give the family someone to lean on. Years later, with Lily’s battle fought and won, Cordova and his wife still credit the Helping Hands Fund with helping them to dig their way out of that dark time. 

Not only do members of IBEW Local 134 help one another through the fund, but electrical contractors also support those members in need. Powering Chicago is proud to be a supporter of the Helping Hands Fund and all they do to take care of current and retired members of Local 134 through the donation of $50,000 toward its charitable works. 

To learn more about the Helping Hands Fund and how they exemplify the power of taking care of one another like family, visit Powering Chicago’s website to see additional ways the fund has touched the lives of Local 134 members.