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GM plants are located in 30 states in the contiguous United States. They are home to thousands of employees who work together to carry out the mission of General Motors Corporation. Many of their employees support the Make-A-Wish Foundation personally or through efforts spearheaded by their individual plants. On behalf of the wish children and their families, we sincerely thank them for their heartfelt contributions. Here are just a few of their stories.
(L-R) Wish family Jerry Hammel Sr., Amy Hammel, Jackie Hammel, wish child Jerry. Then, Jeff Rollinson, UAW 1112 community services; Cheryl Parsons, UAW 1714 community services; Tom Wrobel, controls engineer; Theresa Hack, document control specialist; Jim Bumgardner, B.U.M. Materials.
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Plant: GM Lordstown Complex, Lordstown, Ohio
Wish Child: Jerry
Chapter: Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Greater Ohio, Kentucky & Indiana
The Lordstown plant people love cars and kids. They bring these two interests together at an annual car show that benefits wish children. Everyone has fun, and money is raised for area wish kids. During a special presentation by plant representatives at this year’s show, wish child Jerry, 18, got a big surprise: His wish for a large tool chest and tools was granted. And that’s not all! The plant folks gave him a laptop computer and printer, and they even offered him an internship at the plant if he continues to pursue an engineering degree.
“The Lordstown people are amazing. They are so giving and caring to the wish kids. I can’t say enough good about them.” Megan Little, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Ohio, Kentucky & Indiana
(L-R) Doug Bowman, vice president, UAW Local 594; Gloria Morgan, president UAW Local 594, Jim Hall, chairman UAW Local 594, Gary Weatherby, chairman of the Bowl-A-Thon for Pontiac Assembly Center (PAC); John Dansby, plant manager, PAC; Joya Shepard, personnel director, PAC; Meghan Mair (MAWF shirt), manager of community development from Make-A-Wish Foundation’s Detroit office; Damauri (front) and a family member (back of Damauri).
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Wish child Damauri.
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Plant: GM Pontiac Assembly Center, Pontiac, Michigan
Wish Child: Damauri
Chapter: Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Michigan
Damauri, 8, wished to go to Walt Disney World ®, and his wish came true thanks to the help of the GM Pontiac Assembly Center and the Lake Orion Assembly plant. The Pontiac plant employees sold diversity calendars in the plant and challenged Local 594 to a Bowl-A-Thon to help raise funds for Damauri’s wish. The result? Damauri and his family had a fabulous time in Orlando!
“The GM people want to meet the wish children and their families. They love the connection.” –Kedrin Gall, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan
Plant: GM Service and Parts Operations, Reno, Nevada
Wish Child: Wish to be granted soon!
Chapter: Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Northern Nevada
Michael J. Nakonechni, UAW shop chairperson for Local 2162 at the Reno plant; wish child Beau; and Steve Gajewski, first shift UAW committeeperson and event coordinator at the plant.
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An impressive 86 golfers teed off in the 6th Annual Golf for Wishes sponsored by the UAW Local 2162 and the local GM SPO plant who organized the event. “We call it ‘golfing for wishes,’” said Steve Gajewski, tournament organizer and day-shift committee person for the plant. “We just wanted to give back to the community.” In addition to golf, the event featured an auction, with neat prizes such as golf clubs, trips, dinners and best of all, tickets to the annual Reno Air Races. Wish child Bo, 13, who wished to meet Green Bay Packers’ quarterback Brett Favre, spoke at the banquet. GM plant representative Roy Hermann, GM personnel director also joined in the fun. The 18-hole, golf scramble raised enough funds to help grant at least one wish.
“It is a great partnership we have with the UAW-GM plant in our area. Together we are able to make dreams come true for the children in our area. We thank them for sharing in the power of a wish.” – Sarah Galetti, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Northern Nevada
Wish child Vincent.
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Wish child Justin.
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Plant: Flint Metal Center, Flint, Michigan
Wish Children: Vincent & Justin
Chapter: Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Michigan
An annual event, the Metal Center’s “Chipping in for Children” golf outing was a success. Held at the Grand Blanc Country Club, the event had lots of supporters from those who paid participation fees, entered the raffles, and bid on auction items to valued sponsors, such as UAW-GM. Wish child Vincent, 5, attended the event with his grandparents. In fact, his grandfather had worked at the local GM plant, giving the event a more personal meaning. The funds raised by “Chipping in for Children” helped grant the wish of Vincent to go on a Disney Cruise and the wish of Justin, 9, to visit Australia.
“Their (the Metal Center) hearts are in it for the cause, and it shows.” – Kedrin Gall, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan
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