Thanks to our members and contributing partners, District Council 82 was able to donate $100,000 through PATCH to True Friends, a local nonprofit that works with children and adults with disabilities. PATCH, or Painters and Allied Trades for Children’s Hope, is a foundation started by the International in 2001 to support organizations that help young people in the communities our members live and work in. In addition to making donations on the national level, local District Councils collect donations for PATCH and give them to local organizations at their discretion.
True Friends opened their first camp in 1925, and today they have four locations across Minnesota serving 25,000 individuals annually. They provide life-changing experiences for children and adults with disabilities to build self-esteem and increase independence. They offer a wide array of programming, including camp, respite, retreats, team building, therapy and adaptive riding, and travel.
Our union doesn’t just work in the community; we strive to serve our community members and give back to organizations like True Friends that are making a positive impact. For more information on True Friends and their work, you can visit truefriends.org.