Carpenters union collects toys for food bank

MOSES LAKE — Santa looked a lot like a construction worker Friday, when the carpenters union and Fisher Construction Group handed over toys to the Moses Lake Food Bank. 

“We’ve already collected over 200 toys and dropped them off with Toys for Tots in Spokane,” said George Moreno, vice president of Carpenters Union Local 59. “And … our box is almost full again.” 

The box is set up at the job site on Road O Northeast. Fisher Construction is the general contractor on a construction project, Moreno said. The project is on property owned by JR Simplot, according to county records. 

Moreno said he got the idea with his adult softball community about four years ago. 

“We’ve been doing our own personal toy drive with people that we knew,” he said. “We kind of had them reach out to us, and little by little it grew more and more.” 

Last year Moreno decided to bring the idea to his union, gathering toys at the same site along with Fisher Construction. The drive brought in more than 100 toys, he said. 

“We killed it, man,” he said. “So this year I said I’m going to step it up. I’ll do all of Tri-Cities and Spokane, and then I want to do Moses Lake.” 

Moreno and the carpenters union set up a 5-by-5-by-5-foot box at the job site, he said, and the response was overwhelming. And it wasn’t just from carpenters, either. 

“There’s over 500 people here,” he said. “Electricians, ironworkers, electricians, pipe fitters, plumbers. I had a talk at one of our morning safety meetings and kind of galvanized the troops.” 

This week the union will bring another box of toys to Toys for Tots in Kennewick, he added. 

“There’s a lot of families that don’t have the means or the support just to get a simple present,” Moreno said. “Maybe a single-income household, grandparents raising kids … The main thing is that we want to build back wealth within our community.”