Si Se Puede® Emergency Relief Services
More than 2.5 million agricultural workers - half undocumented - were deemed essential by the federal government during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most farm workers and their families are excluded from federal relief efforts due to the lack of legal status of the farm worker or their spouse. Even as essential workers keeping America fed, they are being infected with COVID-19 at alarming levels and need emergency relief assistance.
The UFW Foundation’s Emergency Relief team was created in order to address these systemic inequalities by providing vital financial support, personal protective equipment, crucial workers’ rights information, and support to farm workers during the pandemic.
Notably, the UFW Foundation has distributed $23 million in pandemic relief financial assistance for farm workers & low income-immigrants in California, Oregon, and Washington State. The UFW Foundation, in partnership with Chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen and in collaboration with the UFW and the Cesar Chavez Foundation, also provided restaurant-prepared meals in rural California in 2020 and then lead another operation in 2021. The UFW Foundation has distributed more than 400,000 meals and food boxes to farm workers and 2 million cloth, surgical and KN95 masks in rural farm worker communities across California, Oregon, Michigan, and Washington state.
The UFW Foundation is committed to continuing to assist farm workers during these challenging times. We worked diligently to ensure farm workers were among the first to receive COVID-19 vaccines once the life-saving immunizations became available. Currently, over 41,000 vaccines have been administered in rural communities. Our emergency relief assistance programs will continue expanding and more assistance will become available in the upcoming months.
USDA Invests $700 Million in Grants to Provide Relief to Farm and Food Workers Impacted by COVID-19
On September 7, 2021, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that $700 million in grant funding would be available through the new Farm and Food Workers Relief (FFWR) grant program to help farm workers and meatpacking workers with pandemic-related health and safety costs. More information here.
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