We cant lose our history! In 1987, members of Laborers’ Local 332 sponsored a dinner to honor their Business Manager, the legendary Sam Staten Sr for his achievements and leadership. At that dinner, the proceeds came to $25,000 which was given to Mr. Staten as a gift. At that dinner, the very same night, Mr. Staten gave the entire $25,000 to four non-profit organizations. Mr. Staten decided that he wanted to continue this good deed with an annual dinner to raise funds to support needy non-profit organizations that benefit our community. The Friends of Labor Committee was created to manage the logistics of the event.
To this date, the dinner has given over 1.8 million dollars to a large array of non-profit organizations providing college scholarships, homeless prevention, health, nursery service, fair housing advocacy, community development and much more.
Each year the dinner honors an “Outstanding Labor Leader” and an “Outstanding Community Leader”.
This year the honorees were Dennis Pagliotti, President and Business Manager of the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1 PA/DE the oldest, continuous union in the country. Mr. Pagliotti was awarded the Outstanding Labor Leader Award while Mr. Kevin A Jeremiah was awarded the Outstanding Community Leader Award. Mr. Jeremiah is the President and CEO of the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
Take a look at our picture gallery of this gala event:
