Labor Group Supports Home, American Dream

Mercy Home President/CEO Fr. Scott Donahue gave the invocation at the Irish American Labor Council’s (IALC) annual James Connolly Dinner last week and accepted a generous donation to Mercy Home.

The dinner helps support the group’s efforts on behalf of social and community welfare and honors individuals who have made significant contributions. This year’s honorees were James Allen, President of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers and Tim McCarthy, Orland Park Police Chief and former Secret Service agent who served five U.S. Presidents. McCarthy was one of only four Secret Service agents to have been shot protecting a president when he was wounded shielding Ronald Reagan from an assassination attempt in 1981.

“That’s the dream for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren,” Fr. Scott said. “To have the ability to work and how this work enhances life.”

In his remarks, Fr. Scott talked about the desire of immigrants throughout our nation’s history to become part of the American dream and who have been willing to work hard to attain it. “That’s the dream for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren,” Fr. Scott said. “To have the ability to work and how this work enhances life.”

Thanking the audience and IALC members he concluded, “What all of you do through your work, you enhance the lives of so many. And for that, and for this night, I am deeply grateful.”

The Irish American Labor Council was initially founded in 1995 to raise funds for a statue commemorating early 20th Century Irish labor leader James Connolly, a central figure in the Easter Rising against English rule in 1916. The IALC successfully completed its goal and the Connolly statue now stands in Union Park on the near West Side. Today the IALC, which is made up of primarily of men and women working in the building trades, supports charitable causes like Mercy Home.

At the dinner, Kevin Farley (Cement Masons 502) and Mercy Home Board of Regents member Rich Daniels (Chicago Federation of Musicians), presented Fr. Scott with a generous check in support of our work with children in need. The dinner also featured performances by Paddy Homan, the Trinity Irish Dancers, and musicians from the City Lights Orchestra, led by Rich Daniels.

Our sincere thanks to the members of the Irish American Labor Council for their generous and longstanding support of our boys and girls.

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