Gilroy

Toy Drive for South Bay Farmworkers' Children in Need of Donations

Catholic Charities and the Farmworker Caravan are hoping to provide toys to children of farmworkers in Santa Clara County

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It has been a bad year for farmworkers.

An abnormally wet winter has prevented many of them from going to work, leaving many of them without a paycheck.

"We have been helping a couple families that haven't been working, said Araceli Gonzales with Catholic Charities. "Loss of income, loss of hours, and just trying to provide.

Catholic Charities in response is teaming up with the Farmworker Caravan to try and brighten families' Cinco de Mayo in Gilroy. The groups are collecting toys for children of migrant farmworkers.

But so far, the groups' collection room is virtually bare.

"We're really short on toys this year," said Darlene Tenes with the Farmworker Caravan. "We got half the amount that we expected. And that was at least to give the children one toy."

The charities are also going to the farmworker camp on Cinco de Mayo with food baskets and family aid, including health and social services. The groups said it is the least they can do for the essential workers who took care of everyone during the pandemic.

"These are farm workers that take care of not just us during the pandemic, but every day of the year," Tenes said. "Every time you sit down to eat, you need to thank a farm workers for that."

The worry right now is for the children and the toys they are hoping for, but may never get.

"These are children that are not necessarily getting to play all summer," Tenes said. "They're working in the fields. So when they can have a moment when they're not working, we want to just give them something."

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