At first, the farmworkers don’t quite believe it. Bernadette
Barrera hands them a colorful flyer: a soil-muddied hand, cupping a
seedling before rows and rows of verdant crops.
Gilroy – At first, the farmworkers don’t quite believe it. Bernadette Barrera hands them a colorful flyer: a soil-muddied hand, cupping a seedling before rows and rows of verdant crops. It’s for a festival, Barrera explains, a free event to honor and serve those who pull vegetables from the earth.
“Es para Ustedes,” she explains: It’s for you all.
“They look at me like, ‘What?’ ” Barrera said, laughing. “They get really quiet, and they look at the picture. They look at that picture more than the words, really. It’s them.”
Thousands of farmworkers will flock to Christmas Hill Park Sunday for Celebracion del Campo, a free six-hour festival to applaud their work – and meet their needs. Mariachi bands and reggaeton beats will regale crowds gathered to peruse the resource fair, Book Mobile, job booths and dozens of free medical screenings, as well as dance acts, a kid-friendly jump castle and big-name Latin radio stars. A farmer’s market will give away fresh produce to workers who often pick it, but still can’t afford it; six $500 scholarships will go to farmworkers’ kids.
“They’re working two jobs. They’ve got kids in school, and they can’t be home for them. They go through hardships,” said David Montes, program coordinator for the Mexican American Community Service Agency. “This is one day to come out, get some resources, and let us give you a high five.”
The bash is the brainchild of Jeff Ruster, executive director of the job training agency Work2future, which trains farmworkers and others for higher-paying jobs in construction, truck driving, and even dental hygiene.
“We found there was very little awareness among migrant farmworkers of the services available to them, often at no cost,” Ruster explained. “We’re increasing their awareness of these resources available to them … And we’re thanking them for what their sacrifice and hard work. What we eat is a product of their labor.”
Now in its third year, the once-small festival has now swelled, thanks to advertising from Spanish-language media giant Univision, and expects to bring more than 5,000 farmworkers to Christmas Hill Park, at a $30,000 cost, said Sylvia Montoya, supervisor of Work2future’s Morgan Hill office. Twenty agencies have joined forces to bring the festival to life, bolstered by business supporters such as Wells Fargo Bank and Rancho Grande Real Estate; 22 medical groups are providing free care Sunday, including Kaiser, Saint Louise Regional Hospital, and Gardner South County Health. And four radio stations and a television crew will be there to record it all, under the umbrella of Univision.
You don’t have to be a farmworker to go: Montes is leading festival activities for youth ages 14 to 21, some of whom are generations removed from field work. Popular DJs from the ‘La Kalle’ reggaeton radio show, radio personality Shoboy Edgar, the hip-hop group Tri-Plex, and DJ Danny Gunnz will entertain the teens Sunday. Those who have roots in the fields take pride in it, said Montes – a far cry from his own youth in Gilroy, when Montes shied from mentioning that he and his mother cut apricots.
“A youth stopped by yesterday and showed me her cuts from cutting apricots,” he said. “That’s the first thing you show – how many cuts you got! They talk about it proudly. It’s a bridge between us.”
Cuts aren’t the only pain farmworkers suffer: South County Housing neighborhood developer Art Barron described the back-breaking work farmworkers endure in 100-degree heat. To this day, his agency seeks affordable housing for migrant workers: the root of South County Housing’s work. Others mentioned the health risks, scant educational opportunities and pesticide exposure many field workers still suffer – often out-of-sight, on remote migrant camps tucked into the margins of cities like Gilroy.
“The hope is that people begin to really see the people that are harvesting our crops,” said Oscar Lamas, Out of School Youth Specialist for the county Office of Education. “They’re not terrorists like right-wing conservative groups call them. We need to include them into the fabric of our society.”
He paused. “They are the fabric of our society.”
