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. Join our email list to get alerts and job announcements in your inbox! 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] Sign up for our mailing list to get newsletters @ home- Send us your address info today! 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 Support SAF - Donate Today! Donate through our secure website, manage your donor account & more! www.saf-unite.org SAF Pubs now available online in pdf form– Check out our last 16 years of great books and materials on our site today! Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 19 Durham, NC 27701
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