From disasters like hurricanes and police violence, to the generations-old injustices of poverty and discrimination, the Immokalee farmworker community has faced countless challenges over the past thirty years.  So when the COVID-19 pandemic came out of nowhere two years ago to pose an existential threat to farmworkers — and the state of Florida made it painfully clear that we would be facing the pandemic largely on our own — we did what we have always done: come together and leverage whatever we could to survive.

We drew on years of organizing logistics experience and went to work procuring and distributing PPE. 

We created powerful popular education materials and radio messages to ensure people had the knowledge they needed to protect themselves and others. 

We leveraged longstanding partnerships with local, national, and international media to bring the plight of farmworker communities like Immokalee to light. 

And we expanded the Fair Food Program, and our partnerships with Participating Growers, to apply the Program’s unique, enforceable protections against COVID.  The short video linked at the top of today’s post illustrates that unique power. 

Even $10 makes a difference when it comes to building our community’s strength. Can you make a contribution today? 

The pandemic continues to be a formidable threat to frontline farmworkers today, even with extraordinary advances in vaccines, testing, and therapies.  At the same time, the never-ending work of managing and growing the Fair Food Program goes on, even in the context of an unpredictable public health emergency.  Your support helps ensure the continued resilience of our staff and community in these trying times.

Our end-of-year fundraising campaign is a critical part of our sustainability strategy because individual contributions like yours can be immediately put to work wherever the community needs them most, allowing us to respond to urgent needs without sacrificing our long-term vision for the future of agriculture.  

Will you help us raise $100,000 by December 31st to keep our work going?