Winebrenner cares for union members by donating boots after Hurricane Milton

MERRILL, Wis. (WSAW) – We’ve all seen the devastation caused by Hurricane Milton. Homes, businesses and communities were destroyed. People are now working to rebuild and receiving help from north-central Wisconsin.

The Weinbreener shoe company donated 1,200 boots to union workers in the affected areas.

We’ve seen organizations donate food, supplies, aid and clothing, but one Wienbrenners employee says people forget about union workers, so he approached management with an idea.

Caleb Peckham is the leading white line player in Winbrenners. He watched videos of the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, just like we did. Seeing how bad the storm was, he thought about the union workers and all the construction work they would have to do.

“Nobody talks about the men and women who rebuild infrastructure and need quality boots that have a safety toe, that are waterproof and can withstand the kind of destruction and work that they do,” Peckham said.

Peckham and Winebrenner knew the best boots to send to union workers in Tennessee, Florida and North Carolina.

“The Genesis Boot is one of our most popular boots. The safety sock is numb and the safety sock is waterproof, which is important where there is flooding. So this is a made in the USA cleat that we provided to them,” said Weinbrenner President Jeff Burns.

Without these boots, union workers can suffer serious, life-threatening injuries.

“Even when you just talk about road construction, there are huge boulders, pieces of concrete and other debris, logs,” Peckham said. “You definitely need something that will protect your feet and keep them dry.”

This donation alone costs $300,000, and some construction work there could take up to ten years. Winebrenner knows union workers will have to wear a lot of shoes during construction, but they say these Winebrenner boots will last a long time.

“Our shoes are really high quality and can last two, three, four, five years,” Burns said.

They also donated women’s shoes to these states. Winebrenner says they don’t mind donating more boots if the need increases.