Labor: Appreciation Day Event

The Ragin' Grannies

Florencia Colella

Elvira Hernandez

The public is invited to “Labor: Appreciation Day” on Monday, September 1, 12noon, at Veteran’s Memorial Park, 119 W Main St, Fremont, MI 49412. Although this free program begins at 12noon, people are encouraged to arrive by 11:45 with blankets, camp chairs and picnic lunches to find their spot on the lawn while listening to local band, “Fine Feathered Friends.”

The Event will include speakers, music, and MC George Heartwell, former three term Mayor of Grand Rapids. Key note speakers are Elvira Hernandez and Florencia Colella, with music offered by the Fine Feathered Friends band, and the Raging Grannies.

Speaker Elvira Hernandez is Program Associate of the West Michigan ACLU office. Ms. Hernandez comes from a migrant farmworker family, and has become a strong advocate for farmworkers in immigration matters. She has worked at Farmworker Legal Services and at the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan, serving immigrants from around the world with consultations, family reunifications, naturalizations, and more.

Florencia Colella grew up in a family of farmers, butchers, accountants and entrepreneurs who migrated across rural and urban European and Latin American regions. She has lived and worked for a quarter of her life in Michigan, and “feels a bit American too”. Florencia works to empower agribusinesses to make decisions through an improved understanding of their financial wellbeing and its interconnectedness with the community and the environment.

“The Raging Grannies”, a group of local “Elder Matriarchs”, will perform songs of well-known melodies but with new lyrics that fit the times. The original “Raging Grannies” hail from Canada, but they urge Grannies from across the globe to become “Raging” by going out into the streets promoting peace, justice, social and economic equality through song and humor. Chances are there will be many recognizable faces in the Newaygo Raging Grannies.

Donations will be collected for Migrant Legal Aid in Grand Rapids, a non-profit law firm that offers pro-bono services to migrant farmworkers in the West Michigan agricultural sector, and to those who work in fruit and vegetable packaging warehouses.

“We are the only law firm in the State that provides outreach to migrant farmworkers at their work-housing sites,” states Whitney Perez Blake, Outreach Coordinator and Legal Assistant at Migrant Legal Aid. “We complete outreach twice each week during the growing seasons, checking on how they are doing, verifying that their rights are not being violated, pass out information on things like pesticide exposure and medical resources, and of course donations of much needed items like clothing, protective work gear, shoes, hygiene kits and more.” 

Newaygo is one of the 13 counties that Migrant Legal Services visits, reaching over 1200 migrant farmworkers and their families in 40 different towns and 252 migrant housing sites. 127 of the people served were children under 18 years of age.

Donations that Event attendees are urged to bring are: Sun hats, sun glasses and sun screen; work shoes for both men and women of various sizes; long and cool t-shirts for men and women; cooling towels; children’s clothing; twin bed sheets, as many farmworkers arrive with nothing and they are not provided with basic living supplies at their work sites; and any personal hygiene and toiletry items. Cash donations will also be accepted, and there will be QR codes that can be scanned for credit card or bank withdrawal donations.

“We are excited to provide this free event, open to everyone, where we will celebrate workers as thousands face lay-offs from program, department, funding cuts and deportation,” states Val Deur of Indivisible Newaygo County (INC).

“We are also humbled to have speakers Elvira Hernandez and Florencia Colella, as they bring their experiences within their own migrant families, and those with whom they work or service,” states Sally Wagoner of INC. “We hope to honor their commitment to the migrant worker cause with boxes of donated items and monetary support through the Migrant Legal Aid organization.”

Indivisible Newaygo County is a local chapter of Indivisible.org, whose motto is “Mobilizing our Community to Build a more Just and Prosperous Newaygo County for all through Non-Violent Action.” For more information visit www.IndivisibleNewaygoCo.org; and ask to sign up for Enews from [email protected]. 

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