We hope you will consider supporting the Dolores Huerta Foundation for #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back.
On Tuesday, December 1, 2015, charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world will come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give.
Our goal is to raise $10,000 to support the organizing efforts of our work in Woodlake and Lindsay, rural farm worker towns in Tulare County, California.
Outreach efforts led by DHF Organizer, Irlanda Ramirez, have encouraged community members to take leadership roles in advocating to improve the health and well being of children attending public schools in Tulare County, while also addressing health disparities caused by poverty and lack of access to healthy food. Parents and youth are being educated about the health dangers of sugary beverages and diets lacking fruits and vegetables. They have been trained in advocacy and are working to strengthen School Wellness Policies to include improved nutrition guidelines, increased physical activity during school hours, and safer routes to schools. They are pushing the Woodlake Unified School District School Board to approve “farm to school” procurement policies which will increase the amount of locally produced fresh fruits and vegetables served in school breakfasts and lunches.
This work is critical because, while residents of Woodlake and other communities in the San Joaquin Valley are generating vast wealth for the Valley’s agriculture industry, the healthy foods grown in the region are being exported domestically and internationally. The Public Health Institute has found that foods that are most accessible to San Joaquin Valley residents are inexpensive fast foods that are high calorie and nutrient poor that jeopardize their health. Further, because of the lack of readily available potable water, many low-income residents are purchasing cheap, high calorie, sugar-laden drinks, which also contribute to chronic disease.
Your generous #GivingTuesday donations will help cover the costs that our traditional funding sources do not cover. For example, your gift can help with providing nutritious foods and childcare at for our weekly parent trainings and monthly community forums and cover the rental costs for the facilities where these gatherings are held. You can provide the resources for purchasing the office supplies and postage necessary to send updates, informational materials, and invitations to meetings. Help provide the Tulare team with a dedicated sound system, projector, and a canopy. Having easier access to this equipment will make their work even more efficient.
Please help us reach our $10,000 #GivingTuesday Goal!
¡Si Se Puede!
Dolores Huerta
Also, keep the conversation going on Facebook and Twitter – use the hashtag #Give2DHF Those who give $50 or more to the Dolores Huerta Foundation will be entered into a drawing for an Dolores Huerta Art Print Poster by the artist Barbara Carrasco, personalized and signed by Dolores Huerta.
