SEIU 400 Steps Up for Burned-Out Hyattsville Family

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” said Merle Munroe, clasping SEIU 400 President Sonny Reed’s hand in both of hers, “I don’t know how we would make it without your love and support.” Reed – along with Local 400 VP William Sellman, Executive Board member Trent Holmes, Political Director Cynthia Collins and member Derek Jackson – was delivering a $1,500 contribution from the local to Munroe and the surviving members of her family. Munroe’s sister, daughter and grandson died late last month in a devastating house fire that gutted the family’s home in Hyattsville. Killed were Janet Assing-Macklin, 61, 36-year-old Simone Anne Munroe and six-year-old Omari Noel, Munroe’s son. SEIU 400’s office is in Hyattsville and member Derek Jackson is the building supervisor at Lewisdale Elementary, where Omari Noel was a student, and where surviving family gathered early Monday morning with Local 400’s leadership and school officials. “The local’s Board didn’t hesitate to step up to help this family,” Reed told Union City, “it seemed like the least we could do to help them in their time of need, and we’ve had union members burned out of their homes so we know what that means in terms of heartbreak and hardship.” The group gathered around a collage of pictures of young Omari, smiling broadly, and despite the tears they had just shed, they soon were smiling too, remembering his brief and joyful life. The Community Services Agency’s Emergency Assistance Fund assists area families in crises like this year-round and salutes Local 400; for info on how to contribute to CSA, please email Kathleen McKirchy at kmckirch@dclabor.org. - photo: Murle Monroe embraces Sonny Reed while Trent Holmes and Cynthia Collins look on; photo by Chris Garlock