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A Labor of Love
Unions Give Phoenix Children a Christmas to Remember
Dee Cantoni doesn’t wear a red suit and whiskers — another CWA member takes care of that — but for hundreds of Arizona children, she’s Santa Claus.
Assisted by an army of union elves, Cantoni coordinates an annual party and toy giveaway that ensures her community’s lowest-income youngsters have a special Christmas.
“The emphasis shouldn’t be on me,” Cantoni, a member of CWA Local 7019 in Phoenix, is quick to say. “All it takes is one person having an idea and getting other people to buy into it. The success of the project depends on everyone pulling together.”
The idea came to Cantoni six years ago when she saw a photograph in a St. Louis newspaper of a girl holding a doll she received from a labor union toy drive.
Cantoni approached her local president, Reed Roberts, now a CWA staff representative in District 7. “I said, 'Isn’t this great? I’d really like to do something like this.' He was very supportive."
Cantoni, a Qwest customer service representative, has long been connected with area social services agencies. She is her local’s community services chair, and holds similar positions with the CWA Arizona State Council and the Central Arizona Labor Council. She is also on the board of Labor’s Community Service Agency, a non-profit organization that is part of the United Way. The agency’s staff is represented by CWA.
Working with the agencies and representatives from various unions, Cantoni put together a committee to plan the annual project and raise funds. They start their work in August each year.
“Every union does something different," she said. “Some unions take up collections. Some e-boards approve funds. In our local, we use our mobilization structure. We go one-on-one to all our members.”
In 1995, the project provided toys for about 200 children. It has since tripled in size. Working through Friendly House, a non-profit organization that offers a variety of services to immigrants and the working poor, the project brought 600 youngsters together for the 2000 Christmas party. About $8,000 in donations was raised.
The parties are held on a Saturday near Christmas at a school run by Friendly House. The children receive personalized invitations donated by a local print shop, and are asked to bring a grown-up with them.
Their first treat upon arrival is a visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus — Local 7090 member Mike Flemming and community volunteer Judy Kuplic. Photographers snap pictures and each family later receives two prints.
Then the youngsters get to choose an unwrapped gift from cafeteria tables stacked high with toys, dolls, games, books, backpacks, makeup kits and scores of other goodies, all roughly $20 in value. With plenty of presents to pick from, the children don’t squabble, Cantoni said. In fact, she said, their selflessness can be overwhelming.
“One year, we had a little boy who picked out an Easy Bake Oven,” she said. “We couldn’t figure out why he choose it. The agency director asked him if he knew what it was and he said, ‘Yes, I’m getting it for my sister. She’s not here today.’” Cantoni said they offered to let the boy choose an additional gift for himself but he politely declined.
She recalled another little boy running across the floor after choosing his gift, flying toward Santa. “Santa, I want to thank you so much,” the joyful youngster gushed.
The children are so gracious and cheerful that one volunteer asks every year to be posted at the back door as families leave, Cantoni said, explaining that he gets to oversee a parade of excited children saying, “Look what Santa gave me!”
After choosing a present, the children and their families eat lunch while a mariachi band plays. For dessert, there are cupcakes, courtesy of the Letter Carriers local. “They’re working all this overtime to get the holiday mail out, but they hold a baking party and bake 1,500 cupcakes for us,” she said.
The event, which has had little media coverage over the years, won warm praise in December from Arizona Republic newspaper columnist O. Ricardo Pimentel.
Noting that Cantoni calls the project the “Miracle at Durango,” the street where the school is located, he wrote: “The miracle in my book, is how so many people could smile and be so happy for so long, the volunteers and the families.”
He was especially impressed by the fact that labor wasn’t looking for recognition for its good deeds. “Nowhere in sight was any sign telling the families who their benefactors were,” he wrote. “No sign saying ‘toys courtesy of your local unions.’ No signs saying this was an AFL-CIO giveaway.
“I know unions get a bad rap these days. We seem to have something against folks asking for living wages, job security and good working conditions. On this day, however, the only thing these unions were bargaining for was collective joy.”
Dee Cantoni doesn’t wear a red suit and whiskers — another CWA member takes care of that — but for hundreds of Arizona children, she’s Santa Claus.
Assisted by an army of union elves, Cantoni coordinates an annual party and toy giveaway that ensures her community’s lowest-income youngsters have a special Christmas.
“The emphasis shouldn’t be on me,” Cantoni, a member of CWA Local 7019 in Phoenix, is quick to say. “All it takes is one person having an idea and getting other people to buy into it. The success of the project depends on everyone pulling together.”
The idea came to Cantoni six years ago when she saw a photograph in a St. Louis newspaper of a girl holding a doll she received from a labor union toy drive.
Cantoni approached her local president, Reed Roberts, now a CWA staff representative in District 7. “I said, 'Isn’t this great? I’d really like to do something like this.' He was very supportive."
Cantoni, a Qwest customer service representative, has long been connected with area social services agencies. She is her local’s community services chair, and holds similar positions with the CWA Arizona State Council and the Central Arizona Labor Council. She is also on the board of Labor’s Community Service Agency, a non-profit organization that is part of the United Way. The agency’s staff is represented by CWA.
Working with the agencies and representatives from various unions, Cantoni put together a committee to plan the annual project and raise funds. They start their work in August each year.
“Every union does something different," she said. “Some unions take up collections. Some e-boards approve funds. In our local, we use our mobilization structure. We go one-on-one to all our members.”
In 1995, the project provided toys for about 200 children. It has since tripled in size. Working through Friendly House, a non-profit organization that offers a variety of services to immigrants and the working poor, the project brought 600 youngsters together for the 2000 Christmas party. About $8,000 in donations was raised.
The parties are held on a Saturday near Christmas at a school run by Friendly House. The children receive personalized invitations donated by a local print shop, and are asked to bring a grown-up with them.
Their first treat upon arrival is a visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus — Local 7090 member Mike Flemming and community volunteer Judy Kuplic. Photographers snap pictures and each family later receives two prints.
Then the youngsters get to choose an unwrapped gift from cafeteria tables stacked high with toys, dolls, games, books, backpacks, makeup kits and scores of other goodies, all roughly $20 in value. With plenty of presents to pick from, the children don’t squabble, Cantoni said. In fact, she said, their selflessness can be overwhelming.
“One year, we had a little boy who picked out an Easy Bake Oven,” she said. “We couldn’t figure out why he choose it. The agency director asked him if he knew what it was and he said, ‘Yes, I’m getting it for my sister. She’s not here today.’” Cantoni said they offered to let the boy choose an additional gift for himself but he politely declined.
She recalled another little boy running across the floor after choosing his gift, flying toward Santa. “Santa, I want to thank you so much,” the joyful youngster gushed.
The children are so gracious and cheerful that one volunteer asks every year to be posted at the back door as families leave, Cantoni said, explaining that he gets to oversee a parade of excited children saying, “Look what Santa gave me!”
After choosing a present, the children and their families eat lunch while a mariachi band plays. For dessert, there are cupcakes, courtesy of the Letter Carriers local. “They’re working all this overtime to get the holiday mail out, but they hold a baking party and bake 1,500 cupcakes for us,” she said.
The event, which has had little media coverage over the years, won warm praise in December from Arizona Republic newspaper columnist O. Ricardo Pimentel.
Noting that Cantoni calls the project the “Miracle at Durango,” the street where the school is located, he wrote: “The miracle in my book, is how so many people could smile and be so happy for so long, the volunteers and the families.”
He was especially impressed by the fact that labor wasn’t looking for recognition for its good deeds. “Nowhere in sight was any sign telling the families who their benefactors were,” he wrote. “No sign saying ‘toys courtesy of your local unions.’ No signs saying this was an AFL-CIO giveaway.
“I know unions get a bad rap these days. We seem to have something against folks asking for living wages, job security and good working conditions. On this day, however, the only thing these unions were bargaining for was collective joy.”