By Rod Lee

It turns out that Michael A. Labbe and All Phase Glass are even more than what they bill themselves to be, which is: “the answer to all glass and property maintenance needs.”

The South Grafton company is often at the forefront of disaster-relief efforts across the nation. This was the case again when a swarm of tornadoes converged on the Midwest and South—including Western Kentucky—in December. With winds up to 115 miles per hour, barns and homes were destroyed, trees uprooted, and more than seventy people lost their lives.

“It was quite the event,” Mr. Labbe said in his office on Collette St. the afternoon of January 4. “I turned on the news that day and was blown away.”

As he has in the past, Mr. Labbe, together with his wife Carrie, family members, employees, friends, business acquaintances and residents, sprang into action. The result was thousands of dollars of goods rounded up over a four-day span. Food, first aid equipment, bottled water, tools, generators, bedding—to name just some of the items—were loaded onto three tractor trailers and a twenty six-foot box truck and delivered to Kentucky.

“I called (State Sen.) Mike Moore and (State Rep.) Dave Muradian Jr. and said ‘hey guys, it’s time to step up.’  Every time something happens I reach out to them and they come through. I said to my wife ‘are we going to do this again?’” Mr. Labbe said.

The vehicles were given an escort out to the Mass Pike by the Grafton Police Department, in coordination with the Millbury PD.

“I’ve been in public service all my life,” Mr. Labbe said, by way of explaining his involvement in such causes. He sees himself as a public servant, even as he has built an impressive corporate portfolio over the span of the last three decades.

He founded All Phase Glass & Maintenance Corp. going on twenty-eight years ago. The firm services residential customers in all of New England and upstate New York with such materials as shower doors and mirrors. All Phase Glass’s workforce also includes painters, electricians and landscapers.

Born in Worcester, Mr. Labbe is the father of five daughters. He is humble about the role he has taken on as a Samaritan when catastrophe strikes. He sees his efforts as an opportunity not to glamorize his ability to provide sustenance to those in need but rather as a chance to set an example for young people, in the hope that they will carry it forward.

It is not unusual for him to enter the picture on behalf of victims of weather tragedies.

He was on the scene when Naples, Florida, was struck by tornadoes.

“Katrina, I was there two days before it hit,” he says of the Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1800 deaths and $125 billion in destruction in Louisiana in late August 2005. “I got trapped there just before the I-93 bridge (the`Crescent City Connection,’ spanning the Mississippi River from New Orleans to Gretna) collapsed (technically, it was closed down by the Gretna PD, in what turned out to be a controversial action).”

All Phase Glass sent food to first responders in the aftermath of California wildfires, and came to the assistance of victims when Hurricane Harvey ravaged Houston. 

All Phase Glass’s latest request for help from townspeople resulted in people age 5 to 90 showing up with donations or to pack boxes, including a small elderly woman. “She had a sweater in a plastic bag. She said ‘I wish I could do more’,” he said.

Mike Labbe added Christmas toys to the mix.

“I can’t imagine my own children waking up on Christmas and no gifts,” he said.

The first truck arrived in Kentucky seven days after the call went out.

“There are times in life to make money and times to be a patriot,” he said.

-----------------------------------------------------

Contact Rod Lee at [email protected] or 774-232-2999.