DAYTONA BEACH NEWS JOURNAL December 14, 2005
Ministry helps feed 130 farmworker families SEVILLE -- Cecilia Perez heard about it in the fields, and now carpools come from Astor with other fern cutters and their children. The crowds start gathering Thursdays around 3 p.m. when most farmworkers stop working the fields. On a recent chilly afternoon at the home of Ana Bolanos, a community activist, cars pulled off busy U.S. 17 and parked as women made their way toward the mounds of groceries. There, the Halifax Urban Ministry's HUM-On-Wheels program helps feed nearly 130 families each month. "There's nothing like it in the area," said Perez, who depends on the groceries to help feed her family of seven. "This helps us with about $40 per month in groceries." In recent years women have become the large majority of fern cutters in Northwest Volusia and parts of Putnam County, according to the Farmworker Association of Florida. With little or no education, the women, mostly from Mexican-immigrant families settle for low paying jobs in local ferneries or nurseries, where most work part time making 27 cents per bunch of fern or an average of $200 per week. The HUM-On-Wheels program caters to most of them, Bolanos said. The program started earlier this year when area churches approached director Mike Coleman with the idea of expanding the ministry's services to the area. "We saw there was a great need in West Volusia," said Coleman. "We thought this mobile unit was the best way to address it." Bolanos was instrumental in the success of the program among farmworkers. The community trusted her because she already helped with child care, clothing, food and encouragement through her women's advocacy group, Alianza de Mujeres Activas. Soon after the program started in May, the women began showing up. Most said they found out through word-of-mouth. "We were only a conductor for this type of help to happen up here," Bolanos said in Spanish. "There are so many mothers who need the help." Three days a week, a white van leaves from Bay Street in Daytona Beach to serve the needy in DeLeon Springs, Seville, Pierson and Bunnell. About 1,000 bags are delivered each month. Each bag is filled with nonperishable goods that Bolanos said often match the dietary tastes of the Mexican community in the area. "They bring rice, beans, cooking oil," she said. "They're foods people around here know how to prepare." The names of the women are entered into a database and, according to the size of the family, they receive one or two bags filled with enough food to feed a family of four for five days. Since June, when the HUM-On-Wheels program began, the agency has served more than 1,000 families. Delia Milan, who carpooled with Perez from Astor, said it's her third time receiving free groceries. She wishes she didn't need them, but she's thankful for the help. "We save in food the money we don't make if it rains or if I have to stay home if my kids get sick," she said in Spanish. Bolanos said Coleman promised to keep coming to her location for at least a year, but she hopes the program could stay longer. She said the help has brought hope to the area after a long year of hardships that started with last year's string of hurricanes. Most of the women, Bolanos said, can't say thanks too many times. "Mostly, they give us their blessings," she said. "For many, that's all they have."
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