FHDC's Summer Appeal 2011---Support farmworker children!
Meet Pedro and Aldo:
The summer of 2009 was not the best of times for Aldo and Pedro. They could only dream of a summer of learning an recreation. For many years their parents, Carlos and Maria, worked as migrant workers, picking many different seasonal crops along the west coast. The whole family often slept in their car or in labor camps. The summer of 2009 was no different. The family traveled from southern California to northern Oregon picking sweet cherries. For a short time, Pedro and Aldo stayed with relatives while their parents worked ten hour shifts at nearby cherry orchards. When the cherry crop was gone, they had to move on; again the children stayed in their vehicle with their mother while their father worked.
In late summer of 2009, everything changed for Aldo and Pedro. The family moved to Colonia Libertad, FHDC’s housing community in Salem, Oregon. For the first time in their lives they had a stable and secure home. Home at Libertad came with much more though. Colonia Libertad has a large play area and a community center where several educational programs are offered to children and youth. One them is the
Summer Enrichment Program. The program began operating in 2003 when FHDC opened the Cipriano Ferrel Education Center (CFEC) located in our Woodburn housing community and has since been expanded to each of our new developments. The goal of the program is to keep kids learning throughout the summer in a safe environment, to allow them to enrich their lives through visits to places like Gilbert House, and to have a multitude of structured and unstructured recreational opportunities. The program serves over 200 children.
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What's new this summer?
This summer children like Aldo and Pedro will participate inseveral new activities. They will be part of Salem’s Adopt a Street Program which is aimed at maintaining a healthy environment and clean streets. They will create and record radio announcements educating the Latino community about waste reduction. The announcements will be aired on PCUN’s Radio Moviemiento, which reaches several thousand people in the Willamette Valley.
The cost of operating the Summer Enrichment Program is approximately $31,000. At $155 in costs per child, we have enough funding to serve only 140 children, leaving 60+ un-served—unless FHDC supporters step forward with the balance of needed $10,000. Any amount will help us ensure every child is able to participate. You don’t have to pay full sponsorship for a child. Our deadline to raise the remaining funds is July 11th, 2011, when the program begins.
Aldo and Pedro’s father recently left to pick crops in Oregon and California. He won’t return until late summer. Before he left he told his neighbors and FHDC staff, “I’m happy my family no longer has to travel with me. Thank you for taking care of them.” Despite his absence Aldo and Pedro now have a safe place to live and something to look forward to. Help us provide them with the opportunity to continue to be a part of Summer Enrichment Program. Thank you.
