Thanks to the community’s kindness and generosity, El Pajaro Community Development Corp. was able to offer 38 family meals to 228 people as part of its first Farmworker’s Family Dinner initiative.
“We started the Farmworker’s Family Dinner initiative to honor our communities’ farmworkers and to give each of them a ‘break’ from cooking dinner for one night,” said El Pajaro CDC Executive Director Carmen Herrera Mansir. “We figured that after a 12-plus-hour day of very hard work under the sun, having someone else make a warm and delicious meal for the whole family is a great treat.”
The first week’s dinner was made by Cuevas Express Food and RoguePye.
The program helped increase sales for food entrepreneurs who have experienced a drastic drop in revenue due to the COVID-19 crisis. Some of the entrepreneurs are not eligible for the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) that Congress passed on March 27, 2020, or other relief programs. These are families that lost 75-100 percent of their income.
Farmworkers pick up meals at El Pajaro Community Development Corp. in Watsonville.
“Thanks to the success of this initiative, our team decided to make the Farmworker’s Family Dinner an ongoing program,” said Herrera Mansir. “Our goal is to provide 10 family dinners every night from Monday to Saturday. I hope the community will continue to support us. Please share this opportunity with your friends and network.”
Farmworkers and their families were ecstatic about the dinner:
“Our workers were very happy, they were in awe, they felt pampered!” said Javier Zamora, owner of JSM Organics farm. “Our H-2B Visa workers could not believe they were getting such a big and delicious meal. Everyone loved Esthela Cuevas’ food.”
Zamora loved the food so much that he is now planning to hire the Cuevas family (of Cuevas Express Food) to make meals for JSM farm workers.
“My wife is going to be sooo happy because she will NOT have to cook tonight,” said Gabino, a sole breadwinner and father of four who works at JSM.
El Pajaro farm-partners Zamora and Rogelio Ponce at Sun Valley Farms, both small local farmers, donate the organic strawberries used to make El Pajaro’s house-branded strawberry jam (available online at: epcdc.square.site.)
Herrera Mansir thanked Cesario Ruiz, El Pajaro’s kitchen program manager, and Izuyah Sanchez, kitchen assistant, for making this dinner “magic” happen.
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To support the Farmworker’s Family Dinner, go to: epcdc.square.site/product/farmworke-s-family-dinner/21?cs=true