by Brent Frazier
SPRING HILL, Tenn.- The once idling General Motors plant in Spring Hill is slowly getting back to a full assembly line. Most of the 74 laid-off G-M workers, who decided to stay put, are back to work.
When GM worker Kimberly Timmons set out to pull together
care packages for her laid-off co-workers, she wasn't in search of fresh fruit
and candy; she secured some pretty vital services from local business owners,
including free haircuts, spa discounts, reduced-cost eye exams, even a
completely free dental checkup for all 74 families affected.
"They got a complete examination: oral cancer
screening, any necessary X-rays that we needed to have," explained Jason K.
Miller, D.MD., a Spring Hill dentist who was happy to extend the generous offer
to out-of-work General Motors families who'd lost their medical and health
benefits.
Miller, who owns and operates Tanyard Springs Family
Dentistry, told NewsChannel 5 that few families had actually taken him up on his
offer. But Miller did say he'd still be willing to make good on the deal well
into the summer.
"I'm still getting (thank you) cards in the mail," said
Timmons, the mastermind behind this tremendous charitable undertaking. "I see
people at work, they're stopping me…"
Kimberly Timmons is a 32-year veteran of GM herself, who's
managed to dodge every lay-off at the local GM plant.
Given her lucky record, Timmons never once took her own
consistent employment for granted; rather, she decided to aid her 74 laid-off
co-workers who declined an out-of-state work assignment from the company.
In return, all 74 agreed to surrender any unemployment pay,
company benefits like healthcare, as well as tenure with the company. But those
workers did not depart completely empty-handed; all 74 consented to an
agreement that allowed them first return rights, once the plant got back up and
running.
