Union City woman aids farm workers
By Matthew Artz, STAFF WRITER
Article Launched: 04/04/2007 02:49:29 AM PDT


UNION CITY — A year ago, Sylvia Casarez couldn't even walk into her garage, it was so full of tortillas, rice, beans and ramen noodles.
Over two weeks, Casarez and about 30 other volunteers from Union City hauled the food in about 25 vehicles south to Greenfield, where migrant farm laborers had no work and almost nothing to eat.

This year hasn't been much better for the fruit pickers, so Casarez and others are gearing up for another food drive.

But they have some catching up to do. With the delivery scheduled for April 15, Casarez so far has collected only one bag of rice and beans and $200 in donations to buy additional groceries.

That would barely address the needs of about 2,500 indigenous workers from the Mexican state of Oaxaca now in Greenfield, a farming town in the Salinas Valley, 95 miles south of San Jose.

Casarez will be accepting donations through April 14. She is asking for tortillas, rice, beans, cooking oil, coffee, sugar, ramen noodles, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, chiles, fruit, eggs, toilet paper, toothpaste, cheese and candy, as well as checks or cash to buy additional groceries.

For more information, call her or Abe Moreno at (510) 489-4089.




Staff writer Matthew Artz covers Union City for The Argus. He can be reached at (510) 353-7003 or martz@angnewspapers.com.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.insidebayarea.com/timesstar/ci_5590277