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CLOUDY Temp: 40 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Saturday, December 21, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend November 22, 2002 Hermanos project provides food for needy farmworkers By JENNIFER NITSON for the Mail Tribune TALENT — Left widowed three years ago by her orchard-worker husband, Juana Velasco said she is thankful for the food she gets through the Hermanos Project. Velasco, 55, works five months a year sorting fruit. From her minimum wage earnings she sends her daughter and two grandchildren in Mexico $100 every two weeks. The Talent resident said she appreciates the food donations that arrive at her door. "I don’t to have to decide whether to buy food or soap," she said. The Ashland Emergency Food Bank is seeking donations for its Hermanos ("brothers and sisters") Project, which provides food for the families of Hispanicfarmworkers in the Ashland-Talent area during winter months when work is scarce. According to Milo Salgado, outreach services representative for the Oregon Employment Department, the population of Hispanic farmworkers swells to about 3,000 during the peak of the Rogue Valley harvesting season. Most laborers move on at harvest’s end, but an estimated 30 percent make the Rogue Valley their home. Many fall on hard times in the winter. The five-year-old Hermanos Project helped 305 adults and 542 children last year, and food bank volunteers hope to help even more this year. Because of language and cultural barriers, the families often don’t take advantage of traditional assistance programs, food bank officials say. Hermanos is unique in that it provides Hispanic families with the kinds of food they traditionally eat — rice, beans and tortillas, for example. Juana Angulo, who has lived in Talent for 19 years, said it is a relief when the food comes because she can pay her bills and have food in the house. "This is a very good program," said Gloria Dominguez Work, the food bank’s liaison to the Hispanic community. "I have been in this valley since 1980 and I have not seen a food program that meets the food needs of this population like this one." Families receive help on a staggered basis. "We do four or five distributions in the winter months," Work said. "We have to change families. The ones that receive this month can’t receive the next month." Recipients have found that food often does not last as long as anticipated as extended family members come to share meals. "That is the beautiful thing about the Hispanic culture," Work said. "We grow up that way. We are raised knowing we have to help, not just your children, but your uncle, your parents, your grandfather, your grandchildren." To donate to the effort, checks payable to the Hermanos Project can be mailed or brought to the food bank at 144 N. Second St. For more information, call Fran at 482-3642. Jennifer Nitson is a reporting intern for the Ashland Daily Tidings. Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy webmaster feedback A D V E R T I S E R S