Public Employee Press

Profile in Public Service
VOLUNTEERS

If you want to get a job done, give it to a busy person. With dozens of events each month, DC 37 runs smoother thanks to dedicated staff, local leaders and activists and scores of union volunteers like Local 768 retirees Iona Allen and Arlene Tuff. Together, they have put in 55 years of volunteer service at DC 37 and in their communities.

"Volunteers are the only human beings on the face of the earth who reflect this nation's compassion, unselfish caring, patience, and just plain love for one another," said the late bestselling author and housewife Erma Bombeck.

Iona Allen started volunteering in 1999, when she retired after 22 years as a Public Health Assistant and Local 768 member. She volunteers at the Powell Street Community Center near her Brooklyn home. At DC 37, she serves on the Retirees Association Executive Board and the Citizenship, Black History and Holiday Party committees.

"It's about helping others - anyone can do it," said Allen. "Things need to get done and I felt I could chip in and help out. DC 37 is like a family, and many activities and committees need our support."

One day in 1967, Tuff's husband, professional middleweight boxer Artie Town, left for a haircut. The next time she saw him, "he was in the morgue," she said. A widow at 39 with four youngsters, Tuff volunteered as a church secretary and helped get out the vote in the '70s.

Tuff worked for the Board of Education for 17 years, then joined the Health Dept. in 1980. Now retired, she is known for her stylish outfits and winning smile. She lost a son to AIDS and helps run DC 37's annual observance of World AIDS Awareness Day in December. "We were losing so many in our community, I had to get involved," Tuff said.

Volunteers' calendars are full: they phonebank for DC 37, sell daffodils for the Cancer Society in early spring, raise money for breast cancer awareness, and sell cakes and cookies at the annual sale held by the DC 37 Women's Committee. Both women are Political Action Committee volunteers; Tuff also served as Parkchester Community Liaison.

A former chief shop steward, Tuff served as secretary for the PEOPLE political fundraising committee and now works on the Housing Committee. In addition to volunteering at DC 37, Tuff is a tax aide with the American Association of Retired People, secretary for the African American Day Parade in Harlem, and a member of the Manhattan borough president's Senior Advisory Group.

"I love people and volunteering comes naturally for me. At DC 37 I am part of something special and I feel more satisfied in life," Tuff said. "I feel very rich with my DC 37 family."

"It doesn't take any special skill to get involved," Allen said. "People need to help one another more. We grow as individuals and as a union when we volunteer, and we build the community. There is so much to pass on to younger members to keep the union growing."

—Diane S. Williams