Because of the MCC Foundation's careful management of the Faculty Book Loan fund started by the EA a decade ago, our union has been able to kickstart two new emergency funds, part of the “We Are 1” campaign, to the tune of $1,300 for students and $700 for employees.
This is money from invested "surplus fund sharing" by the college in 2005; it is not from member dues. But those two cash injections are only a start, and you can see how if half a dozen people were to need emergency help in the same week, those injections would quickly be depleted.
So the EA is encouraging all members to add their own personal contribution to these funds. If you only have a one-dollar bill, or a fiver, that's fine - but the goal is 100% participation from all of the members in each of the six bargaining units on campus.
It's a "team spirit" thing. And yes, everyone knows that our wages have essentially been frozen for a long time while Lansing steadily de-funds education in our state. That's why even a little donation will be cheerfully accepted.
So the union board is asking all members to help make the Mott faculty shine brightly, as we have so often before, by bringing whatever you can add to the collection plate when you receive your “We Are 1” materials in the campus mail.