http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/06/v ... dents.html

Spring break exposes students to life of migrants

By LESLIE WILLIAMS HALE
Naples Daily News
IMMOKALEE, Fla. -- Nine college kids. Seven States. Six days. One van.

It can only be one thing: spring break.

This month, a flood of college students are inundating the unlikeliest of Florida towns for their break: Immokalee. In Collier County, students from Pennsylvania and Connecticut, Maryland and New York are flowing in to enjoy an alternative spring break that combines service work with education about the way farm workers live.

"Doing things for needy people when others won't is inspiring," said Anthony Firetto, a junior at Gannon University in Erie, Penn. "It's really not that hard to give up a week of your time out of 52 weeks in a year."

Firetto, 20, is one of nine students from Gannon who made the drive through seven states in one cozy van to get to Southwest Florida to spend a week living simply, learning about the working conditions of migrant workers, and discovering what they can do to make life better for those workers and their community. Gannon, in turn, is one of five universities sending students to Immokalee this month, and one of nine schools encouraging students to spend spring break in Immokalee.

The timing couldn't be better, said Alicia Lindo-Hodge, marketing director for the Guadalupe Center in Immokalee, which is hosting roughly five university groups this season.

"Especially now, in the soup kitchen, since we're seeing twice as many individuals in the last few weeks, the help is welcomed," said Lindo-Hodge.

Recent freezes in Southwest Florida have debilitated some crops, halting production of tomatoes and citrus, and putting farm workers out of jobs. Those people have turned to organizations like the Guadalupe Center, which is serving more people and for longer hours than in years’ past. But these groups have been coming to Immokalee for many years.

"I don't know exactly how they end up contacting us, but a lot of colleges have us on their radar," said Lindo-Hodge. "A lot of organizations out here in Immokalee need the help."

They are just a stone's throw from the raucous, debauched fun of a spring break on Fort Myers Beach, yet they are also worlds away.

"It's definitely opened my eyes a little more to things other than just PA," said Melissa Weirich, 23, referring to her native Pennsylvania.

Weirich is studying criminal justice, but also has a passion for horses. She hopes to work with troubled and at-risk youth, using an equestrian program to keep them on track and engaged. But, she said, spending a few days in Immokalee has helped her recognize the importance of helping people who, in particular, do not have the resources to help themselves.

"I already know I want to help those that are less fortunate," said Weirich, a senior. "But I know now that I want to go out and help those kids that can't afford to come to a program."

For Beth Cardot, who hopes to be a lawyer, the trip emphasizes a fine line between what she calls giving a handout versus a hand up. Cardot said she hopes to have an influence through work as an attorney, but that service trips like this help her keep her perspective.

"I'm going to be a lawyer, so I think it's important that in becoming a lawyer, I don't become not true to myself," Cardot said.

Cardot takes a lesson straight from two of her hosts for the week, Richard and Florence Nogaj. The Nogajs bought land in Immokalee a decade ago and built the 90-family development now called Jubilation, through their nonprofit foundation by the same name. The affordable housing subdivision was a groundbreaking experiment for Immokalee, where just one-third of residents own their homes, and two-thirds rent. Most American communities are composed of an opposite ratio, with two-thirds of residents owning their own homes, said Florence Nogaj, 62.

When the Nogajs began taking resident applications and counseling families 10 years ago on mortgages and down payments, they also had a dream of running a farm that pays a living wage. After hurricane Wilma decimated their blueberry plants in a farm off Interstate 82, the Nogajs had to give up that part of their dream.

However, they still sit down with students every spring in Jubilation, which is still populated by homeowners and condo owners, and they talk about the importance of a living wage for farm workers.

"The only way to pay these workers a living wage is to form an alliance, not only with the industry, but with Washington, with the people buying the food," said Richard Nogaj, 72.

That, in turn, will have an impact on immigration in the country, Nogaj said. Rather than coming to the United States to work and send money back to families in their home countries, workers will be more encouraged to bring their families to the country and pursue legal avenues toward citizenship, he said.

Nogaj used his experiences with his wife to write a book about their work in Immokalee, called "Don't Retire, Get Inspired." Richard Nogaj gives a copy of this book to each student he and his wife speak to, signing it for them, and encouraging them to find a way to make their own impact. Proceeds from the book's sale go toward Harvest For Humanity, another nonprofit established by the Nogajs in 1998.

This work - counseling people toward homeownership, pushing for fair trade and a living wage - speaks to Cardot's desire to empower others.

"They have wealth," she said of the Nogajs. "But, they don't just give it to people. They try to help people and make it possible to change their own lives."

The experience of student groups like this one has a far-reaching impact, said Tammy Fritz, program coordinator for the Center for Social Concerns at Gannon. She is spending her second spring break in Immokalee with students from Gannon, a 4,000-undergraduate student Catholic university.

Students who went on last year's trip organized a benefit concert in September at the university, to help organizations in Immokalee and raise awareness among fellow students.

"A lot of them were shocked to hear about the farm workers and how they were treated," Fritz said.

In the afternoon, after talking with the Nogajs, the students went to a tomato packing house on the farm land owned by the Nogajs now leased by Star Farms. They pitched in, helping sort cherry and plum tomatoes and packing the tomatoes into the little plastic containers carried by grocery stores.

"I think it's amazing," said Lindo-Hodge. "I remember when I was that young, the first think I was thinking about was sun and beaches for spring break. ... Especially coming to Florida, there are so many other things they could be doing, but the fact that they are taking their time to help other people is really a wonderful thing."