Want to help laid-off workers pay their mortgages, rent and utility bills? Here’s how
The United Way of the Plains is seeking donations to help pay bills for laid-off workers in the wake of Spirit AeroSystems’ decision last week to cut 2,800 jobs over the Boeing 737 Max production halt.
The fund will make mortgage, rent and utility payments for qualified workers experiencing a recent layoff or who expect one in the near future. Although the Spirit announcement prompted the fund’s creation, it aims to assist any worker laid off from a job in Sedgwick County, United Way spokesman Delane Butler said.
The organization has set up similar funds in the past when Wichita has been hit with large numbers of layoffs, he said.
Details on exactly who will qualify and how to obtain the assistance will be forthcoming at a later date, Butler said. The United Way will manage the fund with no administration charge, according to a news release.
Donations can be made online at www.unitedwayplains.org/laid-off-fund, by texting LAYOFF to 41444, or by mailing a check to: United Way of the Plains, Attn: Laid-Off Workers Fund, PO Box 47208, Wichita, KS 67201-7208.
Checks should be made payable to United Way of the Plains and have “Laid-Off Workers Fund” written in the memo line.
The 2,800 laid-off workers represent about a fifth of Spirit’s Wichita workforce, but the company last week said it might shed more jobs in the future over the 737 Max production halt. Economic multipliers show the Spirit layoffs will impact about 5,800 jobs in the region as more than 40 Wichita-area aerospace companies provide parts and services for the plane.
The layoffs come after Boeing announced in December that it would suspend 737 Max production as it works with regulators to return the troubled jet to flight. The plane has been grounded worldwide for nearly a year after two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed 346 people.
“If you have to go through a layoff, you are fortunate that you are in Wichita. We live in the most caring community in our nation where we all step forward to help each other,” United Way CEO Patrick Hanrahan said in the news release announcing creation of the Laid-Off Workers Fund.
“The funds we raise cannot make someone whole, but we can ease the hardship.”
