‘Give back to farmworkers’: Non-profit brings aid to farm workers in Dinuba

DINUBA, Calif. ( KGPE ) – While most people get time off to enjoy the holiday weekend, farmworkers across California are still working hard during an extensive heat wave.

“It’s incredibly hot out here in the Central Valley, and we just wanted to let farmworkers know that we’re thinking of them during this heat and that, there’s a community out there that cares for them,” Flor Martinez Zaragoza, the President and Founder of Celebration Nation said.

Celebration Nation is a non-profit that serves the Indigenous Latino community, bringing awareness to farm workers and their working conditions.

This week Celebration Nation spent time in Dinuba handing out sombreros, towels dipped in ice-cold water for under their hats, snacks, and Gatorades.

Its efforts like this, she hopes will help shine a light on what farmworkers deal with daily.

“Our efforts bring awareness to the injustices farmworkers face, and they definitely need that visibility,” said Zaragoza.  “We’re so used to just going to our air-conditioned grocery stores and just grabbing some fruit from the shelf. But we need to recognize that it’s somebody out there literally working to make that product accessible to you and it’s not always easy.”

As Zaragoza spends time in the fields she’s reminded of her own childhood, when she worked in the heat at just 14 years old as a child laborer picking wine grapes.

Now, she continues to advocate for farmworkers in California who make up almost half of all farmworkers in America and produce two-thirds of the nation’s fruits and nuts.

Every single day farmworkers play an important role in the U.S. food system, contributing countless fruits, vegetables, and grains that line our grocery store aisles. But with record heat, this essential group is at risk, and Zaragoza says everyone can help keep them safe by donating supplies, or their time.

“I think we all can do something, to give back to our farmworkers, especially since they show up on days like this for us,” said Zaragoza. “We are collecting sombreros and the cooler towels so we can reach our goal of 4,000 farm workers. We also have our back-to-school drive for the farmworker families. We have our Food Bank for Farmworkers program, where we provide fresh produce to farmworker families every month.”

If you would like to help farmworkers in the valley you can visit the Celebration Nation website here. Their next event will be a food bank in McFarland on Saturday, July 12.

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