Helping Our Friends at The Western Farmworkers Association
The Western Farmworkers Association is an organization that supports migrant farmworkers in a number of ways; helping them connect to services, feeding them, and supporting them in the fight for human living conditions, and fair wages.
They recently received a grant for an electric car charger, and we agreed to donate our time and materials, and install it for them. We headed down on Friday, April 23rd, to meet with Juan Meleza, Operations Manager and full-time volunteer, to begin the installation.
“WFWA has been powered by the sun since February 2018. We installed 27 photovoltaic panels. Our members decided to go solar consistent with our tradition since 1986 of sustainable ‘green’ growth while being good stewards of the earth. With the installation of an electric car charger volunteers are invited to bring their electric car to charge while they volunteer at our office,” noted Juan.
We began around 10 a.m., meeting up with Juan in the beautiful Victorian home that WFWA has converted into a peaceful respite for the sole benefit of their membership; migrant and seasonal farm workers and their families (and other low-income workers in the community). The facility has a full kitchen, bathrooms and showers, and even sleeping accommodations for those in need.
The volunteers from Cal Solar were Lars, Tasia, Melvin, and John. Lars and Tasia made quick work of getting all of the tools and supplies ready for the job, while Melvin braved the narrow crawl space for routing some of the wiring.
Around noon, Juan and his crew of volunteers served us up a delicious lunch accompanied by good conversation and laughter. After lunch, we wrapped up the install, packed away tools, tidied up after ourselves, and literally pulled Melvin out of the crawl space! It was a good day’s work that was fun for us all.
Juan thanked us and sent us on our way with cookies and bellies full of delicious fish!
“Over thirty years ago, we joined together to build a free-of-charge, self-help benefit program. Membership benefits include, but are not limited to, food, clothing, preventive medical, non-emergency dental, and legal assistance all free-of-charge with doctors, dentists, and lawyers who donate their time. We are an all-volunteer effort. We have no paid staff. So your volunteer contribution of labor and materials is very much appreciated.” Juan said.
To contact the WFWA:
Juan Meleza
FT Volunteer &
WFWA Operations Manager
(530) 790-0980
364 Wilbur Avenue
Yuba City, CA 95991