For the fifth year, the Warwick Area Farmworker Organization (WAFO) will be driving a campaign to fund 300 safety backpacks.
These backpacks provide safety for farmworkers as they bike or walk along unlit roads with no shoulders. They leave for work before the sun rises and after sunset, so these reflective back packs make them more visible.
This year’s target is 300 backpacks that cost approximately $20 to purchase with their contents. Insulated water bottles, work gloves, bandages, and other safety products are given out by Community Health Workers who provide education on heat related illness and agricultural safety practices.
RE/MAX Town & Country (12 Main St.; Warwick, NY) will have a donation drop off box at its office. You can also contribute toward the purchase of a bag and or help assemble these bags in April 2025. Directions to RE/MAX’s Warwick NY office location can be found here.
If you would like to make a direct monetary donation to the WAFO Backpack Safety program you can do so securely online here. All funds donated will be allocated to this program when this donation category is used.
Another way you can help us is by directly donating the supplies we need for each safety backpack such as goggles, insect repellant, and work gloves. Even if you are unable to physically make it to the drop off box at Warwick RE/MAX Town & Country you can purchase these items online and have them shipped directly to us from Amazon through our Amazon Wishlist found here:
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/29OZ1BP5BPGGQ?ref=cm_sw_sm_r_un_un_EebRQvmWk0Sbl
All purchased items from this Amazon Wishlist will be used for this Safety Backpack program and help us to meet our goal of 300 safety backpacks being distributed to the Warwick Valley migrant farmworker community this spring.
Finally, you can also make a general donation to the WAFO to support all its programs including the Backpack Safety that help improve the lives of migrant farmworkers and their families here. We have one time donation options or you could choose a monthly reoccurring donation. Both are great ways to help us with our mission to improve the lives of those who are most in need within our community including our Summer Enrichment program that helps many of the migrant farmworkers’ children overcome the challenges of poverty through educational enrichment over the summertime school break. The summer season is particularly challenging for migrant farmworker families since the primary caregivers tend to be the parents and their extended relatives– most of which are working long hours on many of the Warwick Valley’s beautiful agricultural operations and local farms. The Summer Enrichment program provides these farmworkers’ children with a safe enriching place to spend the day at with proper supervision and nutrition. We provide this at no cost to many families who cannot afford it, but also accept whatever small amount they can pay if they cannot afford the full program price (only a small minority of the families can afford it even though we provide these services at cost with volunteer labor). Therefore no donation amount is too small and we thank you in advance for your continued generosity as well as your support of our organization.
You can also get the word out about this wonderful WAFO Backpack Safety Program. Feel free to download and share our fundraiser flyer that can be found here: