UAW volunteers help Sauk Village President overcome barriers

The United Auto Works Ford Community Service Ramp Building Team and Bloom Township Disabled Services joined forces in Sauk Village at the home of Susan and Gerald Cook to build an access ramp for Gerald.

Gerald Cook suffered a brain aneurysm which left him wheelchair bound.  Prior to the installation of this donated ramp, Gerald would need to be carried up the stairs to his home.

Thanks to Leticia Gonzalez from Bloom Township and her coordination of the UAW Ford Community Service Ramp team they got the ramp built for the Cooks.  “This is a great service to the community and to those who truly need a hand” Mayor Derrick Burgess said.

The UAW Ford Community Service Ramp Team of Geoff Butler, Steve Conner, Matt Reils and Lance Olson worker with Bloom Township and Sauk Village to help empower the Cooks to overcome the disability with self-sufficiency and greater mobility.

Sauk Village waived all permits and fees associated with this project.  It took two days to complete the project and all labor and materials were donated.

Many thanks to UAW Locals 588 and 551 for your generous support for this worthwhile program.  Thanks to Leticia Gonzalez for all her hard work for a Sauk Village resident.

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Ray Hanania

Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.  

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Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

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