The Farmworker Caravan celebrates farmworkers on the central coast

HOLLISTER, Calif. (KION) The Farmworker Caravan is gifting agricultural workers with food items Saturday to help them celebrate Cinco de Mayo.

CasaQ, a San Jose-based, Hispanic lifestyle company partnered together with LULAC to celebrate all the work that farmworkers do and continue to do. The caravan started in San Jose and made a stop in Hollister where 1,000 boxes filled with groceries and goodies for farmworkers were there waiting for any ag worker that stopped by.

Also showing appreciation for farmworkers were high school volunteers who say they're understanding of the struggle of farmworker families with some high schoolers having grown up in farmworker households.

"It's really important and meaningful to give back to my community, to my people, people who did not stop working during the Coronavirus pandemic and who are earning minimum wage during these conditions. So, something that we were able to do is just give them back what they've already given to us," says Anai Murillo, a volunteer from LULAC.

For one of the volunteers, Maria Lezama, conditions for farmworkers have come a long way. Her husband was a picket line captain for the Bertuccio Farms strikes led by Cesar Chavez for the United Farm Workers. She describes the harsh conditions that ag workers were put through at that time.

"The mayordomos didn't allow us to go to the bathroom and they didn't give us water because they said it would waste time. They treated us horribly, they treated my husband horribly," says Lezama.

Some farmworkers swung by from word by mouth grateful for all the food they received.

"They told me that they were giving out the food here and really what we make is not enough. There's a lot of expenses and everything is so expensive so this is a lot of help for us," says Maria Cozar, a farmworker.

Organizers say they're going to continue giving out supplies next week and reaching out to farmworkers in need of help.