Needing to suspend our in-person gatherings to promote mutual understanding and respect, we sent an appeal to our listserv this summer for donations of school supplies for children of local Eastern Farmworkers Association (EFWA) families, and people responded generously.
Late summer is the single most expensive time of the year for families with school-aged children–more so than even Christmas. Farmworkers and other low-income working families are finding it harder to make ends meet. The expense of school clothes, shoes, supplies, medical exams, and immunizations can break an already over-stretched budget. Central New York’s farmworkers do some of the hardest work in the country but have little or no access to health care. EFWA staff and volunteers are dedicated to helping improve the lives of low-income families.
EFWA is so grateful to the community for helping some of Syracuse’s less fortunate children start the school year off right! After former Women Transcending Boundaries president Sue Savion delivered the first carload of donations to EFWA’s office on North Salina Street, she received a call of appreciation. Then more book bags, paper, notebooks, calculators, erasers, pencils, pens and markers, rulers and notepads, water bottles and tissues kept arriving on her doorstep, and she delivered another carload of these educational tools. Pictured is Ann Port with donations of book bags and supplies. A big thank you to all the generous donors!
On Aug. 14, Sue joined a caravan of cars packed with goodies to drive to a small Presbyterian church on the west side of Syracuse who offered their space to set up tables, sort the materials, organize and count them. Pizza and soda were provided for lunch. On her way home, she dropped off a young volunteer new to Syracuse who lives close to her. The rest of the crew toiled throughout the warm afternoon to get everything packed and labeled for delivery. The following day, the supplies were delivered to families both in the city and on farms.
Sue Savion has been accompanying EFWA staff and volunteers to meet with workers at outlying farms, making tamales for their annual fundraisers, offering rides, providing Halloween costumes and sharing meals, meetings, music, and joy with this community.