on Justice Poultry Industry - Student Action with Farmworkers

FROM
VOL.
17 NO. 2
THE
GROUND
UP
Summer 2009
a publication of STUDENT ACTION WITH FARMWORKERS
Take
Actio
n!
fin
Focus
on Justice
in the
INSIDE
Poultry
Industry
Processing
p. 1 Food
Workers in the
Southeast
Poverty & Injustice in
the Food System
Poverty and
Injustice in the
Food System
e4
excerpted from our report to
Oxfam America (June 2008)
by Melinda Wiggins & Denise VanDeCruze,
Student Action with Farmworkers
The
for Workers'
p. 3 Struggle
Rights in Western NC
Southeastern
Poultry Workers
Labor Under
Harsh Conditions
Health Issues &
African American
Poultry Workers
Update
p. 4 JUSTA
Take Action!
p. 5
d
how i out
nside
pag
by Anita Grabowski, Organizer,
Center for Community Change
Farmworker
Awareness Week
Update
Acknowledgements
It’s
p. 6 Acknowledgements
Levante Update
ITF Class of 2009
"
Lack of overtime,
lation
deliberate miscalcu
lawful
of hours, and un
ls,
deductions for too
ent, travel
protective equipm
ound in
and housing ab
ssing
the food-proce
industry.
"
summertime, and maybe this
weekend you are going to throw
some chicken on the grill– but before you
take that first bite, I invite you to reflect
for a moment on all the people who have
brought your food to you: the field workers
who harvest the vegetables, the local
farmers who compete in an increasingly
corporate market, the factory workers
who slaughter, cut and de-bone your
chicken, and all of the service workers who
transport the products, stock them in the
supermarket, check you out at the grocery
store or serve you in the restaurant.
Poultry processing workers are one of
the largest populations of low wage
workers in the nation. Their struggle
for fair wages, dignified treatment, safe
workplaces and their right to form and
join a union is particularly strong in
the South where there is the greatest
concentration of poultry plants. Over
the past few years their campaigns
...continued on p. 2
Southeast has a long history of
farmworkers that struggle with
poverty and injustice. Many field and food
processing workers earn low (sub poverty)
wages, bear widespread labor abuses, and face
high rates of occupational injuries and illnesses.
Increased enforcement of immigration laws,
especially in workplaces with active union
campaigns and in poultry processing plants
across the country, has led to a climate of fear
and intimidation.
Our definition of farmworkers includes both
food processing workers and field workers.
Food processing workers work on farms or
in plants raising animals for food processing
or preparing meat or fish for packaging.
Alternatively, fieldworkers work in the field
doing manual agricultural labor such as
planting, cultivating, and harvesting crops, as
well as preparing crops for market or storage.
The Southeast has a high concentration of
farmwrokers compared to other regions in the
U.S. The Southeast has more of the nation’s
meat-processing workers than any other region
and Florida and North Carolina rank 4th
and 6th respectively in states with the largest
fieldworker populations nationwide.
Food production has increasingly moved to
factory farms over time, with fewer farmers
controlling more of the production and labor.
While this trend has been mounting for over
40 years in the fields, it has also occurred in the
last two decades in food animal production. In
the poultry industry, production doubled from
1987 to 1997. Meanwhile, many companies
shut down their plants, dismissed their longtime workers (often African American and
White), and then reopened with a non-union
immigrant workforce.
...continued on p. 2
SAF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit
organization whose mission is to bring
students and farmworkers together to
learn about each other's lives, share
resources
and skills, improve conditions
for farmworkers, and build diverse
coalitions working for social change.
STAFF
José de Jesus Franco
ITF Program Assistant
Raúl Granados Gamez
Migrant Youth Director
Laxmi Haynes
Program Director
Tony Macias
Assistant Director
Melanie Stratton-Lopez
National Student Organizer
Joanna Welborn
Operations Manager
Melinda Wiggins
Executive Director
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Tom Arcury
Pablo Buenrostro
Esteban Echeverria, Vice Chair
Irene Godinez
Paulina Hernandez
Mercedes Hernandez-Pelletier
Mary Lindsley, Treasurer
Fawn Pattison
Cris Rivera, Chair
Zulayka Santiago
Vicki Stocking
Alice Tejada
April Walton, Secretary
For more information or to submit
articles to the newsletter, contact:
From the Ground Up Editor
Tony Macias- [email protected]
Published by SAF | Copyright 2009
STUDENT ACTION
WITH FARMWORKERS
1317 W. Pettigrew Street
Durham, NC 27705
(919) 660-3652
(919) 681-7600 (fax)
www.saf-unite.org
2
FROM
THE GROUND UP
...Poverty, continued from p. 1
In 2005 median wages for fieldworkers were
$6.75/hr according to the USDA, adding up
to just $11,000 annually for individuals and
$16,000 for families. This represents some of
the lowest wages in the country. Even though
the majority of fieldworkers earn sub-poverty
wages, they are eligible for few benefits or
social services. Only 10% have employerprovided health insurance and less than 15%
use Medicaid. Only 2% use social security and
less than 1% use general assistance welfare.
While food processing wages remain
relatively high compared with those of lowskilled jobs in other industries, according to
the U.S. Department of Labor in 2000, 100%
of the poultry plants had wage and hour
violations. According to the 2002 Census,
wages for food-processing workers averaged
$10.80/hour (this amount is inflated because
it includes the wages of managers).
The rate of occupational illnesses and injuries
among farmworkers is alarming. The injury
and illness incidence rate for farmworkers is
higher than the total private industry rate.
Fieldworkers face many work-related health
hazards, with exposure to pesticides, heat
stress, falls, cuts, and rashes being some of
most common. Poultry plants can increase
the speed of the line at will, forcing workers
to do their jobs at dangerously fast paces.
With line speeds upwards of 91 birds per
minute, workers experience high rates of
injuries. Due to the dangerous and repetitive
nature of the work in meat-processing plants,
...Poultry, continued from p. 1
have included a fight for bathroom breaks
that led to a successful union organizing
drive in Tennessee; organizing against sexual
harassment and supervisor coercion in
Arkansas; a fight to allow African American
workers equal access to promotions in
Mississippi; ongoing battles to defend
unionized workers’ rights; and battles in
many states to prevent the arbitrary firing of
immigrant workers.
In North Carolina there is a strong effort
under way that is spearheaded by the Western
North Carolina Workers’ Center and the
Farmworker Advocacy Network (FAN).
What started as a campaign to address the
soaring rates of injuries and unsafe work
conditions has turned into a coalition effort
among poultry workers, field workers and
grassroots partners across the state to hold
the Department of Labor accountable for
enforcing labor protections such as inspecting
chicken plants to enforce health and safety
laws and ensuring that fieldworkers do
| Summer 2009
many workers suffer sprains, back pain, and
contusions, as well as long-term disabilities
from years of working on the line.
Unfortunately, fieldworkers are excluded
from the major labor laws passed before
1960 guaranteeing the right to organize,
minimum wage, overtime pay and child
labor laws. Fieldworkers have historically
been and remain unable to affect political
change mainly because growers have had
a disproportionate influence on federal
and state legislation and thus been able
to preserve the exclusion of fieldworkers
from labor laws. Although food-processing
workers have the protections of these laws,
the workers are largely uneducated about
their rights and laws are routinely violated
inside factory walls. One consistent
violation that food processing workers
experience is forced overtime or not being
paid overtime rates.
Food processing workers and field workers
face many similar struggles. While
fieldworkers tend to earn less than factory
workers and are not covered by most labor
laws, workers that slaughter and process
meat products tend to have more dangerous
and debilitating jobs. Because field work
and food-processing plants are often
concentrated in the same rural communities
and neither job alone can provide enough
income, many families work in both
industries or move from farms to factories
and back to farms.
not live in substandard housing. This is
an innovative campaign that brings two
distinct populations of food industry workers
together to join forces in improving their job
quality, and as a direct result, improving the
safety of the food we eat.
As an organizer with the Center for
Community Change, I have had the privilege
to support some of this dynamic organizing
work that is happening in communities
throughout the Southeast. The struggles of
poultry workers are reflective of the struggles
of the legions of low wage workers across the
country whose employers funnel millions
of dollars into anti-union campaigns while
they line their pockets with profits built
off cheap labor and dangerous workplace
conditions. Please take the time to learn how
you can support worker organizing in your
community. We all stand to benefit when
food processing workers are paid fair wages,
have access to affordable health insurance,
and work in safe workplaces.
Poultry
Industry
Quick Facts
from the Center for
Community Change
There are about 235,000
poultry processing
workers nationwide
Bureau of Labor Statistics (2008)
Annual mean wage
for poultry workers in
Mississippi is $17,460
Bureau of Labor Statistics (2008)
National mean for
food manufacturing
human resource
managers is $109,720
Bureau of Labor Statistics (2008)
US Dept. of Labor
surveyed 51 poultry
processing plants
and found 100% had
violated labor laws by
not paying employees
for all hours worked.
Also, 1/3 took impermissible
deductions from workers' pay.
U.S. DOL, Poultry Processing
Compliance Survey Fact Sheet (2001)
Injury rates in meat and
poultry continue to be
one of the highest of
any industry.
US Govt. Accountability Office (2005)
Although the
Occupational Health and
Safety Administration
has recommended that
companies slow line
speeds to mitigate injuries and
safety issues, federal authorities
only regulate line speed if it
affects their ability to inspect
for food contamination. Worker
safety is not a factor.
US Govt. Accountability Office (2005)
The Struggle for
Workers' Rights
in Western NC
Health Issues Affecting
African-American
Poultry Workers
by Hester Lipscomb, Ph.D., Duke University
by Juan Ignacio Montes
Western NC Workers' Center
My
name is Juan Ignacio Montes. I am
an immigrant that came to the US
in 1985, later moving to North Carolina with
my wife and daughters in 1995. We moved to
Valdese, a town founded by Italian immigrants
just east of Morganton in the western part of
the state. I began working in Morganton at
Case Farms, a poultry plant where the majority
of workers are immigrants from Guatemala. In
1995, these workers won a union election, after
having gone on strike to protest poor working
conditions. (Workers were required to buy all
of their own equipment to use while on the
job.) Apart from farmworkers, poultry industry
workers are some of the most exploited and
oppressed workers in our country today.
The Laborers’ International Union of North
America (LIUNA) was chosen by the workers
to represent them, and I joined the organizing
committee to help begin the fight for a fair
contract, which was delayed for 3 years
because of appeals filed by Case Farms.
I was very excited when I joined the union,
and thought it would be easy to win a contract.
Only later did I learn that North Carolina was
a Right to Work* state, giving workers the right
to be exploited as they have historically been
in the South since the era of Jim Crow. I also
learned that the poultry processing industry
is vertically integrated, where the companies
control all the means of production, from the
chickens to the farmers, from the workers to
the consumers.
At this time there were a lot of jobs available,
and so the Latino population grew enormously.
However, poultry industry workers are an
ever-changing workforce, so that by the time we
finally got to the negotiating table in 1998, the
...continued on p. 4
Between
1999 and 2006
researchers at Duke
and community representatives in Northeastern
North Carolina held a study focused on health of
African American women employed in poultry
processing. Participants were predominantly from
the Perdue plant at Lewiston.
Several important findings came from this study:
women working in poultry processing have
significant pain and abnormal physical exam
findings in their hands and arms that are consistent
with upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders. In
fact, the proportion of women with these painful
conditions is very similar to that reported in 1990 by
the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health when plants in this area were cited by the NC
Department of Labor for serious repetitive motion
problems. Painful hand and arm symptoms are
over twice as high among women employed in
poultry processing than among women in the same
community in other low-wage jobs.
Nearly 50% of women employed in poultry
processing report significant depressive symptoms
compared to 20% of other working women.
Depressive symptoms are higher among women
with little support at work, who thought their jobs
were dangerous, who were afraid of losing their
jobs, and those who worked in sustained awkward
positions. These factors were all more common
among the women employed in the poultry plant.
The onset of new painful conditions increased
with increasing work in the poultry plant.
Poor physical health-related quality of life was
identified in 35% of the poultry workers and 15%
of the other women in low-wage work in the
same community. Quality of life of young poultry
workers was what would be expected of women
10 years older. Moreover, women often did not
report problems or seek care for fear of losing
their jobs or having learned by experience that
nothing would be done about their concerns.
Summer 2009 |
FROM
THE GROUND UP
3
company was able to undermine and
destroy our whole union effort. They
offered us a poor contract which the
workers rejected outright. Because it
looked
impossible to win a contract
that workers could live under, LIUNA
decided to leave Morganton in 2002.
They were replaced in the same year
by Interfaith Worker Justice, one of the
only groups to support us during this
difficult period. IWJ founded a workers’
center in Morganton, which has been
helping workers in the area ever since.
In 2005, workers at Case Farms tried to
elect another union, this time with the
support of the Retail, Wholesale and
Department Store Union (RWDSU).
Even though up to 70% of the 500
workers at the plant signed union
cards during the election drive, Case
Farms did everything in their power to
destroy the union effort. In the end, the
workers lost the election, but only after
the company contracted with unionbusting consultants from as far away as
California and spent the paltry sum of
$500,000 to shut down the drive!
Because of health reasons, I had to quit
my job at Case Farms in 1999. As I said
above, I was very excited to be a part of
the organizing committee– I later learned
that you can’t just organize workers, but
also the whole community of consumers
and even the growers who are all being
exploited by the companies in power.
*A Right-to-Work State is one of 22
US states that prohibit union security
agreements at job sites, making it possible
for workers to be represented by unions
without joining or paying dues. These
laws are widely considered by pro-labor
activists to be anti-union and anti-worker.
All states located in the traditionally antiunion Southeast US are Right-To-Work,.
The mission of the Western North
Carolina Workers’ Center is to improve
wages, benefits, and working conditions
of low wage workers by developing
leadership among workers and partnering
with churches, community organizations,
and progressive labor leaders to serve as
allies to low-wage workers.
JUSTA Program Studies Immigrant Poultry
Workers' Occupational Health
by Sara Quandt, Ph. D., Wake Forest University
Since
2004, a community/
u n i v e r s i t y
partnership of Wake Forest University
School of Medicine, Centro Latino
of Caldwell County, Western North
Carolina Workers' Center, and HOLA
of Wilkes County, has conducted
the JUSTA Project, Justicia y Salud
para los Trabajadores Avícolas in
six counties of Western NC. This
area is home to several different
poultry processing plants. Two initial
research projects shed light on the
problem of injuries.
We held face-to-face survey
interviews with a representative
sample of 200 Latino poultry
processing workers and collected data
on occupational and psychological
health, safety training, and the safety
climate inside the plants. Most of the
respondents were less than age 35
and had been in the US less than ten
years. Half were from Mexico, while
many others were from Guatemala.
In-depth, qualitative interviews with
26 workers uncovered a climate of
organizational injustice in the plants
that likely underlies injuries. Workers
4
FROM
THE GROUND UP
describe how ethnicity (American vs.
Latino), immigration status (“good”
papers vs. undocumented), and job rank
(supervisor vs. worker) form the basis
for abusive interactions. These power
relationships make work especially
difficult and dangerous for women, who
are afraid to ask for health and safety
accommodations and who are given tasks
inappropriate for their size and strength.
Selected Results:
• 47% reported poor or fair health
• Frequency of self-reported
•
•
symptoms of occupational injuries
and illnesses was high, particularly
for musculoskeletal, skin, and
respiratory problems
Despite injuries, workers reported
not missing work or seeking
medical care
Occupational injuries and illnesses
varied by company; on average they
exceeded rates reported by plants
to the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration
The JUSTA Project is funded by the
National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health.
| Summer 2009
Farmworker Advocacy Network
Policy Update
In 2008, the Charlotte Observer ran
a hard-hitting series investigating the
poultry industry’s dismal record of
ensuring the health and safety of its
workers. Responding to the issues
raised in the investigation, Reps.
Beverly Earle (D-Mecklenburg) and
Verla Insko (D-Orange) introduced
a bill in the NC House (H390) that
would have allowed the State Health
Director to inspect poultry plants (in
addition to the Department of Labor’s
authority to inspect) and also increased
reporting requirements for injuries
and illnesses in poultry plants. The bill
did not pass out of committee during
the required time period, but based
on recommendations from FAN was
turned into a study bill, which passed
the legislature recently.
Take Action!
Contact the Farmworker Advocacy Network to find out how you can take part
in our advocacy campaigns!
Contact:
Melinda Wiggins
919-660-3652
[email protected]
www.saf-unite.org/action/advocacy.htm
2009
National
Farmworker
Awareness Week
2009
marked SAF's 10th annual
Farmworker Awareness Week,
and it was a BIG one- well over 30,000 people
across the continent took part in marches, film
screenings, parties, demonstrations, and other
actions in honor of farmworkers! In total, we
saw over 300 events in 133 cities and 28 states,
plus one action in Zacatecas, Mexico.
Local Organizing
Local students and SAF supporters
organized over 20 events in North Carolina
for the national week of action, including
a “People, Power, Poultry” cookout and
educational panel combining the struggles
of NC poultry processing workers with
the importance of local organic food for
consumers. UNC-Chapel Hill students
demonstrated for access to higher education
for undocumented students; the Association
of Farmworker Opportunity Programs held
a screening of their new film, Children in
the Fields; local agencies held a training on
farmworkers and sexual assault as part of the
Bandana Project; and the National Pesticide
Forum came to Carrboro, NC, during the
final weekend of Farmworker Awareness
Week. In all, over 500 people participated
in local actions and events!
Thanks to the following
Sponsor Organizations
The Farmworkers Support Committee (CATA),
Centro de los Derechos del Migrante (CDM),
Cesar E. Chavez Foundation, Comunidad
a Comunidad, Domestic Fair Trade
Association, Fair Food Across Borders, Farm
Labor Organizing Committee, Farmworker
Association of Florida, Farmworker Justice,
Farmworkers Self-Help, Inc., Labor Education
and Research Center, National Farm Worker
Ministry/Youth and Young Adult Network,
Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste
(PCUN), Southern Poverty Law Center, Student
Action with Farmworkers, Student/Farmworker
Alliance, Student Labor Action Project, United
Farm Workers, University of MN- Chicano
Studies Program
Thank you to these
individuals for
supporting SAF this year:
Aaron Jacobson, Abigail James, Adolfo
Briceno, Alaine Munn, Alexa Dilworth,
Alexandria Jarvis, Alexis Koskan, Amy
Kinsey, Amy Lai, Anastasia Cembrovska,
Andrew Smith, Andrew Stromberg, Anel
Arias, Angeline Echeverria, Angelo &
Rosalie DeVito, Anita Lyon, Ann Burke, Ann
Warshaw, Ann Stewart, Anne Stringfield,
Anthony Cavender, Anthony Miller, April
Walker, Arunkumar Pennathur, Ashley
Hennessy, Ashley Navarro, Ava Johnson,
Becky Ballard, Belen J. Garcia, Ben Woodard,
Beth O'Donnell, Bets Fenhagen, Betty Marin,
Betty Wolfe, Bevan Jeppesen, Bill Delamar,
Billie Karel, Brandon Kent, Brian Williams,
Bruce Bachus, Bruce Dalton, Bryon Zandt,
Cameron Morgan, Caroline Yang, Carolyn
Chuong, Catherine Gaudes, Catherine Reid,
Celisa Steele, Cheryl Barton Henry, Chris
& Amy Jo Johnson, Chris Sims & Kathleen
Colville, Chriss Muniz, Christina Chenlo,
Claudia Ramos, Claudia Horwitz, Courtney
Heth, Cris Rivera & Beth Stringfield, Dan
Dwyer, Daniel Ellison, Daniel Wurzelmann,
David Andersson, David Eck, David Fryling,
David Halpern, David Hill, David Valencia,
David Wangerin-Lile, David Zoppo, Davis
Gooch, Dawn Wright, Deborah Morris,
Deborah Valencia, Deirdre Gordon,
Dennis Corrington, Diana Iglesias, Diane
Standaert, Donna Katunick, Dorothy J.
Zondag, Doug Stevick, Edwin G. Wilson
Jr, Eleanor Whitney, Elena Borisoff, Elinor
Benami, Elizabeth Friend, Elizabeth Fritz,
Elizabeth Holmes, Elizabeth Kerr Fish,
Elizabeth Longino, Elizabeth Sudduth, Ellen
Ambrose, Elroy Summr, Emily & Edwin
Wilson, Emily Pratt, Emily Brewer, Emily
Welborn, Enrique Rios Alvarez, Erika Liera,
Evan Ronald Painter, Fahmida Azad, Fawn
Pattison, Felipe Godinez, Frances Maria
Aunon, Frank Konhaus, Frank Stasio, Fred
Hertz, Genaro Rivera-Gutierrez, Ginger
Deason, Glenn Love, Grace Hennessy, Greer
Katherine Libbey, Gretchen Hennessy, Ha
Nguyen, Halina Hale, Hamilton Ansley,
Hane Kim, Hannah Friedman, Harrison
Jobe, Harvey Watson, Hilda Godinez, HongAn Truong, Irene Godinez, Israel Bernal, J.J.
Raynor, Jack Holtzman, Jaime Balboa & Todd
Presner, James Alexander, James Peacock,
Jane Crowe, Janet Newton, Janice Kiefhaber,
Janis Eberhardt, Jean-Michel Coughlin,
Jennie Barnes, Jennifer Anne Schradie,
Jennifer Bachus, Jennifer Swaringen, Jenny
Beutin, Jenny Koehn, Jim Street, Jenny
Warburg, Jerry & Robin Moser-Katz, Jessica
Alice Shuen, Jessica Moultrie, Jessica Steele,
Jesus Escobar, Jim Roberts, Jim Thrasher,
Joe & Carlisle Harvard, Jonathan Clements,
Jonathan Tarleton, Jonathon Waldes, Jorja
Cummings, Jose Eduardo Villanueva, Joseph
Corso, Juan Echeverria, Judith Ferster,
Julian Hayes, June Gerding, Juvencio Rocha
Peralta, Kale Rose, Kara Kahley, Karen
Tapelband, Katharine Hibbs, Katherine
Mariategui, Katherine Zellner, Kathryn
Cox, Kathy Parkins, Kay Fenton, Kendra
Dannar, Kimberly Grzywacz, L. Baker Perry,
Lariza Garzon, Laura Ann Freeman, Laura
Dyer, Laura Flores, Laura Lee, Laura Leigh
Newman, Laura Williamson, Laurie Fox,
Laurie Kontopidis, Laurie Mygatt, Leah
Sobsey, Lee Strand, Leigh Edmonson, Leslie
Warren, Liisa Ogburn, Linda Delamar, Linda
Modica, Lisa Satterwhite, Lissa Gotwals,
Lorelle Babwah, Lorena Vega, Lori Dallas,
Lorna Moore, Lowell Wood, Luis Perez,
Lyndsey Beutin, Lynn McKnight, Madalena
Salazar, Mady Rivera, Mandy Carter,
Margaret Babbitt, Margaret Misch, Margaret
Savoca, Maria Gonzalez, Maria Rocio
Carmona, Marianne Sierocinski, Marilyn
Cummings, Marisol Jimenez McGee, Marni
Polansky, Mary Blackwell-Chapman, Mary
Ellen Wheat, Mary J Rockers, Mary Lindsley,
Mary McKee, Mary Stambaugh, MaryAnn
Eldon, Matt & Lisa Pipeling, Matt Hendren,
Maura Baldiga, Meg Goodhand, Meghan
Antol, Melissa Juniper, Melissa MageeKakouras, Meredith Gilliam, Michael Bacon,
Michelle Bertuglia-Haley, Michelle Temple,
Mindy Smith, Monica Black, Monica Mody,
Myriam Torres, Nancy & Joey Sinreich,
Nancy Krier, Naomi Jessica Yates, Natividad
Chavez, Neyla Amaya, Nicholas Anderson,
Nicola Giardina, Nicole Huber, Nisha
Verma, Nita Coleman, Norma Shepard,
Nowell Creadick, Olga Rodriguez, Pamela
Hamer, Patricia Morales, Patricia Taylor,
Patsy Britt, Paul Keller, Paulina Hernandez,
Penelope Fisher, Quirina Vallejos, Raymond
Eurquhart, Rebecca Crain, Rebecca Headen,
Rebecca Lovewell, Rebecca Rose Putterman,
Renee Alyse Johnston, Reuben Moreno,
Rhonda Cohen & Sam Cunningham, Richard
& Jane Levy, Richard Kevin, Rita Pichardo
Geisinger, Rob Meeker, Robert R. Korstad,
Robert Sutton, Robin Smith, Rosaura
Vanegas, Rose Mary & Antonio Marin,
Ruthie Robinson, Sally Cone, Sally Wilson,
Sam Wurzelmann, Samantha Estevez,
Samantha Lubkin, Sander Buitelaar, Sandra
Ayala, Sandra Marquez, Sandy SmithNonini, Sara Fender, Sara Wilkins, Sarah
Donovan, Sarah Dyer, Sarah Long, Sarah
Riazati, Scott & Brenda Gerding, Scott Beck,
Scott D. Rhodes, Sejal Zota, Selena Childs,
Sheila Payne, Shelley Ramsey, Sheri Raymer,
Sherry Everett, Sherry Myers, Shruti Shah,
Stephen Hayden, Stephen Whittington,
Steven Feldman, Steven Lownes, Steven
Petrow, Sumaiya Sarwar, Susan Keever,
Susanne Schmal, Suzanne Baker, Tatiana
Brezina, Tema Okun & Tom Stern, Thomas
Arcury & Sara Quandt, Thomas Rankin,
Tony Asion, Tyler Thomas, Vanessa Hamer,
Veronica Price, Victor Canales Gamino,
Virginia Pope, Vishal Trivedi, W Bruce
Wilson, Warren Howell, Wayne & Bev
Beutin, Wendell Horne, Will Lenox, William
Chappell, Yesica Orozco, Zachary Taylor,
Zoe Litaker, and many more anonymous
donors!
Summer 2009 |
FROM
THE GROUND UP
5
Thank you to these
organizations for funding our
programs this year:
Out of the Loop?
Arthur Carlsen Charitable Fund of
the Triangle Community Foundation,
Association of Farmworker Opportunity
Programs, Anna Louise Reynolds
Fund of the Triangle Community
Foundation, Bass Walter Fund of the
Triangle Community Foundation, Blue
Cross & Blue Shield of NC Foundation,
Bon Vivant Catering, Inc., Church
of Reconciliation, Church Women
United in NC, Donation Line, Duke
Endowment, Environmental Protection
Agency, Grass Roots Press, Hispanics
In Philanthropy, Kirk of Kildaire
Presbyterian, L.P. Brown Foundation,
Lyric Foundation, Mary Duke Biddle
Foundation, Mary Reynolds Babcock
Foundation, National Institutes
of Health, NC Civic Education
Consortium, NC Community AIDS
Fund, NC Farmworker Health Program,
Triangle Community Foundation
Community Grantmaking Program,
OpenSource Leadership Strategies,
Inc., Our Lady of Victory, Paul Green
Foundation, Presbyterian Hunger
Foundation, Public Interest Projects
Inc. Fulfilling the Dream Fund, Puffin
Foundation, RTI International, Scudder
and Hedrick, Wake Forest University,
Western NC Conference of the UMC,
Whole Foods Market of Durham, Z.
Smith Reynolds Foundation. Special
thanks to the Center for Documentary
Studies at Duke University for its
generous support of our work.
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Stay Informed with SAF!
Levante
Program
Update
This year the Levante Youth Group created and
performed the play ¿Qué Culpa Tengo Yo? at
four different events to more than 200 students,
parents and educators. ¿Qué Culpa Tengo Yo?
tells the story of a group of high school students,
who work together, leaving their differences
aside to educate their community about the
options for college for undocumented students.
Through this production the Levate Youth
Group was able to create awareness and educate
the general public about the importance of
education. Levante finished their performances
for this year, but continues to support access to
college for all students.
Project Levante participated in a Mock
Graduation Demonstration on June 23 where
C4CA with the support of the Adelante Education
Coalition gathered more that 150 students in
front of Kay Hagan´s office to ask her to support
the DREAM Act. The Mock Graduation was just
the kick off of the Summer DREAM Campaign
led by members of C4CA. Throughout
the summer students and community
members across the state are collecting
post cards to send to Kay Hagan and
ask her to support the DREAM Act.
The Dream is still alive and we won’t
stop until it becomes a reality.
STUDENT ACTION WITH FARMWORKERS
1317 W. PETTIGREW ST.
DURHAM, NC 27705
email: [email protected]
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Farmworker Awareness Campaign
Special Thanks to our Grassroots
Fundraisers- with your help we
raised over $13,000 this spring!
Chuy Escobar, Claudia Ramos, Cris Rivera,
Dan Dwyer, Ginger Deason, Irene Godinez,
Jorja Cummings, Julie Wilson, Lyndsey Beutin,
Mary Lindsley, Tom Arcury, Sam Wurzelman,
Sarah Dyer, Vicki Stocking, Yesica Orozco
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