On the morning of November 25, CUPE 1638 and the Fraternité des policiers et policières de la Ville de Québec staged their Operation “Snowsuit.” About 60 children went to the FTQ offices on boulevard des Gradins to receive a gift from Santa Claus personally. They then took buses in groups of about 10 to go shopping for snowsuits.
The blue-collar workers and the police officers offered them brand new outfits: coats, pants, boots, tuques, mitts and scarves. The event was organized in collaboration with the management of primary schools in six different boroughs in Quebec City and with the CLSCs, which referred them families in need of a helping hand.
It was the 14th year of this annual tradition.
“The blue-collar workers and police officers in Quebec City are very happy to give back to society and show solidarity with the less privileged citizens of our city. We are proud to make use of our union organizations and solidarity. The objective is to have children be happy this winter and warm at the same time,” explained Alain Bourassa, the President of the blue-collar union.
The union and the fraternity funded the operation by organizing a golf tournament last September 8, holding a pasta supper on October 20 and collecting donations from individuals and sponsors. A total of $9,000 was collected.
The union and the fraternity would like to thank Denise Caron and Sylvain Lambert for their clothing donations, and the Ville de Québec, which provided a meeting space for the event.