The Warwick Area Farmworkers Organization recently held its 2023 End of the Year Review during our first WAFO Board meeting of 2024 last month in January at the Country Dream in Warwick, NY. The WAFO Board and its Executive Director, Kathy Brieger, would like to share with you the “2023 Year in Review” presentation shown at the event to all who attended it. Our first Board meeting of any given year always welcomes as guests the many volunteers and supporters who are key to our continued success through their volunteer work to attend the meeting and share a meal with not only the Board, but many members of the migrant farm worker community as well.
During this annual special Board meeting many volunteers and supporters are recognized for their individual contributions. This year was no different. It is always amazing to see the many people who not only work in the program directly with the migrant workers and their families, but also meet many of the people who work quietly behind the scenes to make sure those programs run smoothly. We also have many local people and private organizations/businesses, as well as, public government, education, and law enforcement that help our program out during the year. We truly are grateful to all our volunteers, staff members, and supporters who serve in these various roles.
In particular this year, we honored the Town of Warwick Police Department who so generously offered volunteer time on their own personal time and out of their police officers’ own personal generosity. We are grateful for both the Warwick PD’s generosity and everyone else who helped out this year. Without all of you this year would not have been successful– so thank you!
The WAFO strongly believes in community and that community extends not only through the migrant farm workers in our program, but also includes their family and friends as well as the many volunteers, supporters, and neighbors of the migrant farm workers. You are also a part of this same community through your support, compassion, and generosity to the migrant farm worker community in ways both big and small. Therefore we feel you too should see what we have accomplished this past year together and celebrate the successes we achieved that would not be possible without you either— thank you too!
This short video presentation found below shows many of these great accomplishments that the WAFO did in 2023 including our Summer Enrichment Program, our Christmas Shop, annual kermeses festival, field trips for the children, after school program, and our various health clinics held throughout the year for the community. This is all among the many other events, programs and enrichment opportunities offered to the migrant farm worker community and their families. Many of the programs are focused on the children in the migrant farm worker community and without these programs these children would not have the ability to grow up healthy, get educational opportunities that would otherwise be limited by the financial limitations of their parents (many of these families are well below the poverty limit financially), and find emotional support to continue their personal development into adulthood that is found within the WAFO’s community orientated family friendly environment. Please watch the video below and be sure to like it on YouTube, as well as, share it with your friends and family:
If you do not already, please be sure to subscribe to our Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram accounts. Each gives you frequent daily updates and a behind the scenes look into the going on’s of the many WAFO programs throughout the year. Also you can also subscribe to this website to be notified of updates by putting your email in the subscribe box that can be found in menu on the right hand side of this web page. These are all great ways to keep up with us and follow our achievements throughout the year.
We are now wrapping up our 2024 Winter program sessions. Believe it or not, we are already preparing for our largest and most important program of the year, our WAFO “Dulce Esperanza” (Sweet Hope) Summer Enrichment Program that will take place this Summer and starts in June 2024. While we have a full slate of programs for the 2024 Spring season starting in a few weeks; the Summer Program by far, because of its scope and nature, requires the most volunteers, funding and planning so beginning early is essential to the program’s success. That success starts now as we begin taking volunteer applications and planning our events for the children in the program. We are also taking applications for students to be enrolled and trying to work out funding needs for those families who cannot afford the program even at heavily discounted rates. This is where we need your help for 2024.
We cannot achieve success for the Summer Program (or any of our programs throughout the year for that matter) without your financial support. We are at a critical levels in our available funds as we stand today. We are in desperate need of both new private and corporate sponsors for the program, as well as, those who donated in years before to do so again this year.
If you can make a one time donation please do so here. We are also continuing to run our GoFundMe fundraiser that can be found here. Finally if you can do monthly donations (which really is the best well to ensure we have steady funding all year long) you can do so here. Any dollar amount matters and the more donors we get the better. Be sure to spread the word on your social media account about the importance of this program in the Warwick Valley Community.
We thank you for your generous donations, your continued support, and helping to spread the word about how much impact the WAFO has in the lives of migrant farm workers and their families!