Local MillerCoors employees volunteer to help veterans

“Winning Together” was the theme for this year’s meeting for employees at the MillerCoors brewery in Trenton as well as an opportunity to give something back to area veterans.

Denise Quinn, vice president and brewery manager of the Trenton plant, said employees are looking for an opportunity to make an impact in the community.

She said last year, the employees partnered with the United Way of Greater Cincinnati to focus on a project for veterans and children.

“Our employees enjoy doing community outreach activities,” she said. “It came out when we did a volunteer at the VA Hospital in Cincinnati.”

This is the second year in a row that the Trenton employees has conducted a community outreach project.

On Tuesday, following presentations on the business and the achievements reached in 2013 as well as the focus of the new year, about 450 brewery employees, which includes about 100 military veterans, spent some time Tuesday at the Sharonville Convention Center putting together personal hygiene kits and making blankets for veterans at the Veterans Administration hospitals in Cincinnati and Dayton.

Most of exhibit room they were working in had 60 tables to make blankets and another 10 tables (each with two lines) were set up so employees could put together the kits. Among the items in each kit were a pad of paper, a pen, a comb, ear plugs, a toothbrush, and soap. In addition, there were 8,000 thank you cards that were signed by the employees that will accompany each item.

Quinn said this year’s goal was to make 120 blankets and put together between 8,000 and 9,000 kits.

Plant employees said they really liked the project, adding that it was a way to do something for the veterans who served the nation.

“It’s pretty cool,” said Darren Coffey of Trenton, who was working at a table with several other employees making the kits in an assembly line fashion. “I don’t get much of chance to do something for the veterans. It’s a neat project.”

Danny Issacs, another employee working with Coffey, said he was giving back to the veterans who have done a lot for the nation.

“I think it’s a great thing to do our part help out and to show our thanks,” he said.

Craig Agee, of St. Clair Twp., said the plant has always been supportive of the military and has even erected a memorial in front of its Trenton facility.

“As far as the project, it shows that the workforce at MillerCoors is very support of our military, past, present and future and it shows me that patriotism is still high in America,” said Agee, a former Navy diver who later served in the Army National Guard during Desert Storm.

“I think it’s great,” Agee said. “I think its great to help our veterans because when some of these fellas when they come into these VA hospitals don’t have the things they need and this is just a little piece to help them get along.”

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