Allegheny-Fayette labor council will host emergency food distribution, part of 'Weekend of Service'

With Pittsburgh’s annual Labor Day parade canceled due to the covid-19 pandemic, the Allegheny-Fayette Central Labor Council will instead organize a “Weekend of Service,” beginning with emergency food distribution in Uptown Pittsburgh on Friday.

“While we can’t have our usual Labor Day celebrations, this year, we are embracing this opportunity to honor the front-line workers who are helping us get through this pandemic, and to show what organized labor is all about,” said council President Darrin Kelly, “serving our communities and taking care of people in need.”

The drive-up food distribution will be from 10 a.m. to noon on Friday, in the parking lot of PPG Paints Arena, 1001 Fifth Ave. The distribution is part of a partnership with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

On Saturday, local union members will clean up Renzie Park in McKeesport, along with painting and repairing equipment and planting flowers.

Sunday, members of the Union Veterans Council will lead a group in cleaning and restoring the veterans’ memorial at Steuben Street and Obey Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Crafton Heights neighborhood.

Kelly encouraged area residents to do the same.

“Whether that’s donating to the food bank, organizing a neighborhood clean-up or even the simple, kind gesture of checking on an elderly neighbor,” he said. “We are all in this together, and it’s never been more important that we all take care of each other.”

The ACLC Labor Day Weekend of Service will finish on Monday with an 8:15 a.m. Mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral, 108 North Dithridge Street in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood.