TAMPA, Fla. — With the strawberry season ending, that means less work for field-workers. The nonprofit, Colectivo Arbol, helps provide food, clothes and other services for farm working families during this time when work is scarce.
Lourdes Flores has picked strawberries for 27 years. She said farm life is all she’s known, and the job isn’t easy.
“We have to work hard, we’re still here, we’re always here no matter weather,” she said. “Right now, during strawberry season, I wake up at 4 a.m. and by 5:30, I’m already picking and we’re getting paid by piecework.”
Along with providing necessities, the organization also helps people who need to go to the foreign consulate in Orlando.
Colectivo Arbol has been giving back to the farm worker community for 7 years, and Lourdes said any bit she receives helps immensely.
“It’s good because sometimes there is work, sometimes there isn’t, so a little bit of help is good,” she said.
Lourdes has worked on the Williams Farm for more than 2 decades. She’s one of several workers who is thankful for organizations that give them items like food and clothes. @BN9 pic.twitter.com/CQdXbulcBi
— Lizbeth Gutierrez (@LizbethGNews) March 16, 2023