Group profiles L-73 for giving back to community

Lodge cited for generosity, quick response

LIKE MANY BOILERMAKER lodges, Local 73 (Saint John, New Brunswick) does its share of charitable giving. In fact, the generosity of L-73 and its 600 members runs well into the tens of thousands of dollars annually.

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L-73 Boilermakers (l. to r.), Kim Blyth, assistant BM-ST, Kevin Chaisson, BM-ST, and Daniel Dezainde, dispatcher, are featured in a newspaper story describing the lodge’s charitable activities. Kâté Braydon/Telegraph Journal

The Greater Saint John Community Foundation (GSJCF) took notice of L-73 recently by submitting a story to the Saint John Telegraph-Journal newspaper. The article ran with a photo of BM-ST Kevin Chaisson, Assistant BM-ST Kim Blyth, and dispatcher Daniel Dezainde. It described the work performed by Boilermakers and listed many of the charitable causes supported by the lodge, such as food banks, scholarships, sports teams, Juvenile Diabetes, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and the Lung Association.

“The Boilermakers are generous and quick to respond to requests for support from charitable groups in our community,” wrote GSJCF Executive Director Jane Berry. “They bring such needs to monthly union meetings for a vote, with impressive results.”

L-73’s Chaisson said his lodge has a long history of giving. As for the rewards the lodge receives in return, he says, “We get a lot of hugs, I can tell you that.”

Chartered in 1973, the local is a construction and shop lodge with jurisdiction in the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.