The Warwick Area Farmworkers Organization 2022 Christmas Store for the migrant farmworkers and their families was held this past Saturday and Sunday (December 17th-18th, 2022). One hundred families purchased new gifts for their families with all proceeds raised from the sales going directly to fund our WAFO Winter Programs. So many children will have Christmas thanks to the kindness of all who donated items to the store through our Amazon fundraiser program and through individual donations made by so many generous people to the store. This includes all those who volunteered time to help out at the store during the program and all those who worked tirelessly to set things up, as well as, sort all the donations.
A special thank you to the Town of Warwick Police Department who helped to brings toys for the Christmas Store ahead of the program. We are so appreciative to all the police officers who donated their time to help out.
Every Christmas the Warwick Area Farmworker Organization holds a Christmas Store. The brand new items are provided through donations and purchased if necessary. The new items are sold at a fraction of their cost and 100% of the proceeds are used to fund the Winter Programs. The families are able to purchase these gifts with dignity, knowing that they are also contributing to the programs that will benefit their families. This is a win-win for everyone involved. Once again, we are so grateful for all the generous support we received this year from the community and our many supporters who so selflessly worked to make this event happen.
And if that was not enough Christmas magic for the season– we are also grateful for the 1,100 pounds of masa harina donated to our WAFO Food Pantry two weeks ago just in time for the holiday. The WAFO Alamo Food Pantry received this donation through the financial support of the Kurdyla and Maggio families. Many migrant farmworker families will be able to use all this masa harina to make plenty of hot tamales for the holidays at a time when everyone is experiencing inflation woes with food costs, but for these families who are especially needy this food comes to them at a critical time of need for them. We appreciate this generous donation to our Food Pantry Program and thank everyone involved in making it happen.
Lastly, once again the Orthmann family made a Santa run to 100 families in the WAFO programs with free food and gifts for the families. This is a long standing family tradition that annually each Christmas season the Orthmann family makes possible. They have done so for years and we cannot thank them enough for this generous tradition that has helped out so many migrant farmworkers and their families during the Holiday Season.
Every one above involved has truly exuded the Spirit of the Holiday Season in ways big and small. All have done so much for so many and we are yet again blown away by your kindness, charity, and compassion. On behalf of the WAFO we wish you all a Happy Holidays and thank you for your continued support! We are still raising funds for our 2023 Program Season. If you would like to donate to the WAFO to support programs like this, you can do so through both our GoFundMe Fundraiser or directly through our Donation page.
