VALRICO, Fla. — As we head into the busy crop season, you’ll likely see many more buses with people who come to work in the U.S. on a temporary work visa, also known as the H2A.

What You Need To Know

  • SeedForce hosting 5K to help support children of H2A workers

  • SeedForce is a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve health and wellbeing of Florida agriculture community

  • Esequias Avalos Soberano benefited from last year’s race; his son has received extensive treatment and help

One Bay area organization, SeedForce, is helping them with their medical needs using funds collected from an annual 5K.

“The workers are important. They are who we depend on for our food to be fresh on our tables,” said Zahide Lorena Diaz, SeedForce director. “And this is a way to show them how grateful we are for what they do, because they leave their families behind to come work here.”

Last year was the first year they held the SeedForceE 5K, and it raised enough money to help more than 50 temporary ag workers and their families.

That includes Esequias Avalos Soberano. This is his fourth crop season working in Florida.

He is from Chiapas, Mexico and here on an H2A temporary work visa.

“We are in the process of opening all the valves so we can start the sprinklers,” he says while working.

It’s a job that he depends on because in Mexico, he says things are much different.

“The opportunities of work in Mexico are very difficult to obtain and very restrictive if you want to have a good living,” he said.

Like many other workers, Soberano is here for eight months out of the year, far from his family.

He has a 10-year-old son who suffers from thyroid disease and has a psychomotor delay. Thanks to the nonprofit SeedForce, his son is getting the medical attention he needs. 

“With different costs, like medical exams, his medications too, this foundation has really helped us,” Soberano said.

The funds collected go toward mental health resources, dental, vision and much more. 

Soberano says it’s a resource that allows him to help his family, even when he’s not there in person.

“We are far away working, and I have my son in my heart, but sometimes as parents we don’t want our children to suffer and we want them to be OK, so we keep doing our best here to help them.”

Day by day he’s helping make sure the crops thrive — and thankful for the organization that helps farm workers like him have a healthy life.

The race is taking place on Nov. 3 with the theme “Running for a Dream.” It will be held in Plant City at Rocky V Ranch on West Knights Griffin Road.