Los Tigres del Norte helps support farmworkers at San Jose concert
BY Betty Wu and KPIX 5 Staff
SAN JOSE CA, (KION-TV)- SAP Center in San Jose was filled with about 10,000 Los Tigres del Norte fans Saturday night as the band added a fundraising effort in light of the recent Half Moon Bay floods this year.
The concert by the popular Norteño group was about entertaining the fans, but also giving back to the community.
The band said in a statement to KPIX: "Farmworkers already face many hardships in daily life and we could not stand by when so many people close to home have had to face these additional horrible events. We also encourage more people to join us once again in supporting this hardworking, but underserved community."
"It's such a special time to be able to come to something like this, it's our first concert ever, we didn't know what to expect, to see all the people, and everything, we're so emotional," said farmworker Livier Gonzalez through ALAS interpreter Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga. "And I'm coming so excited that my feet are trembling, my legs are trembling."
Gonzalez has been a fan of the band since she was five years old. She and her husband, both farmworkers, were taking a much-needed break Saturday night.
They were gifted tickets from ALAS, a nonprofit that helps farm workers on the coast. The band donated about 300 tickets. The sales go to the community group.
"We lost days of work because of not being able to go out, not being able to drive. My husband has been working, because he had to be working to get rid of the water that was adding into the field," said Gonzalez. "He grows flowers and because of the rain, they really got damaged, and they got soaked so bad that they drowned. So there was a lot of damage done to the flower industry."
ALAS founder and executive director Hernandez-Arriaga said many farmworkers are still unable to go back to their homes damaged in the floods. Some are living in hotels, shelters or tents. The need is greater than ever.
"Today we had the highest number, even before COVID, of people who came through our food pantry and it's 100 more than we normally have," she said. "And it's rising every week."
SAP Center teamed up with Los Tigres del Norte to donate part of the proceeds from Saturday's show to two non-profits, including ALAS.
"Really I think what we need is to be united, to have smiles, to care for one another and sometimes you see the other person and they need a smile, they need a hug, they don't really know what they're going through, what they're holding inside," added Gonzalez.
On this night, judging by the smiles in the crowd, there was plenty of joy.
