august 2020 donation 2

lol, I sort of accidentally donated another $25 to kiva this month. their dumb email had a big button which I clicked and apparently it was to a "one click donation" thing! hahahah, oh well. I had been paid back by my lenders just under $25, so I donated that plus I chipped in an extra $1 because I thought it said something about donating $25, get $25 to lend. i did not get that lend credit, I think because I donated $25 over two transactions. lame. oh well. 

august 2021 donation

this month I donated early, really early, actually, since I normally wait until the last couple days of the month for some reason. anyway, t had a coworker e whom I've actually met a few times. he went to compton initiative a couple times and t has said he's such a nice guy. earlier this year t said that e had run into some financial problems. he had quit his job just before covid to start his own business (so he wasn't eligible for unemployment and obviously no one was hiring anyone for a while), he had bought a condo, then he ended up in the hospital when his ex best friend and roommate assaulted him. she wanted to start a gofundme for him but wasn't sure if he'd accept since he's a very private guy.

anyway, here we are months later and apparently things are dire enough that he's reached out on FB asking for funds. t screenshot me the message and I immediately donated $50. it's not a lot, but it's double my usual monthly donation. and I plan to, in a couple weeks when donations have probably stopped coming in, donate another $50.

july 2021 donation

a little late this month since I started a new job, then thaddeus came for the weekend. but anyway, this month I donated to the united farms workers, which is an org that was started in 1962 and "is the nation’s first enduring and largest farm workers union."

"The UFW continues organizing in major agricultural sectors, chiefly in California. Recent years have witnessed dozens of UFW union contract victories protecting thousands of farm workers, among them agreements with the some of the largest berry, winery, tomato, dairy and mushroom companies in California and the nation. More than 75 percent of California’s fresh mushroom industry is now under union contract. Many recent UFW-sponsored laws and regulations protect all farm workers in California, especially those at non-union ranches. They include the first state standards in the U.S. to prevent further deaths and illnesses from extreme heat and in 2016 the first law in the country providing farm workers in California with overtime pay after eight hours a day. The UFW continues to actively champion legislative and regulatory reforms for farm workers covering issues such as worker protections, pesticides and immigration reform."

somehow I started following them on twitter and have learned a lot about working conditions on farms, how some produce is harvested, and the tremendous work that is rewarded with incredibly little pay. 

also, for some extended reading: 
National Farm Worker Ministry - Children in the Fields
The Atlantic - The Overlooked Children Working America's Tobacco Fields