Hunger Action Advocate addresses unmet needs of farmworkers in Eastern Virginia

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LOUISVILLE — As a Hunger Action Advocate for the Presbytery of Eastern Virginia, Jessica Fitzgerald loves to collect goods for farm laborers and their families, particularly migrants and seasonal workers who contribute to the state’s agriculture industry.

From staples, such as masa flour, oil and dry beans, to gift cards and clothing, the donated products are distributed with the help of volunteers and support from about 14 churches within the presbytery.

“This is truly a ministry that I truly enjoy being part of,” said Fitzgerald, an elder who attends Third Presbyterian Church in Norfolk. “I love the face-to-face interaction with the families and their children, listening to their stories and seeing the joy on their faces — that they are loved and thought of and prayed for by others they may have never met.”

The migrant ministry assists families served by two locations of the East Coast Migrant Head Start Project, a nonprofit organization with a long history of working with this population.

“Only the documented … or H-2A employees are using those centers, but they know the families within their community that are working the farms and the nurseries and the oyster beds that need things, so they’re calling and saying (to each other), ‘What do you need?” said Fitzgerald, so the donated goods have an even broader reach.

Fitzgerald recalls the ministry’s humble beginnings.

“We’ve been doing the migrant ministry for years,” said Fitzgerald, the presbytery’s administrative assistant. At first, “I could barely fill up a pickup truck full of needed items and things to take,” but support has grown by leaps and bounds “because of the love our members have for others.”

“Last season was an amazing season,” she said. “We had a 20-foot truck full of donated items,” including 212 food kits, 1,609 diapers, 100 hygiene kits, 90 small boxes of nonperishable groceries, 13 school bags full of supplies, 610 children’s books, plus clothing, sunblock, laundry detergent, hats and various other items.

The effort, including approximately $10,500 worth of products and gift cards, is just one way that hunger action advocates around the country help to address poverty, hunger and other intersectional issues, according to the Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP).

“Hunger Action Advocates (HAAs) serve presbyteries as educators, motivators and facilitators of hunger action,” according to PHP. “They assist congregations and other groups to become engaged with issues of direct hunger relief, hunger-related development assistance, public policy advocacy, education and interpretation about hunger and sustainable living, including environmental justice.”

Farmworkers, such as migrant and seasonal workers, help the state’s agriculture industry to harvest produce such as tomatoes, potatoes and cucumbers. But they sometimes run into hurdles, such as pay being withheld because produce isn’t ready for picking yet. There’s also oyster farming, and “we have Purdue and Tyson chicken factories there, too,” Fitzgerald said, “and a lot of the families stay and get jobs there if they can.”

Fitzgerald partly attributes the success of the migrant ministry, which thrives on donations from churches and the business sector, to getting volunteers to assist with the sorting and delivery of the goods and getting to meet the families.  Hearing their stories has “big impact,” she said.

The presbytery was able to help offset transportation costs for a family after learning that they were traveling long distance and losing work time to take a sick child to the hospital. “God put us in the right place at the right time” to help, Fitzgerald said. “It was a ‘wow’ moment.”

The Presbytery of Eastern Virginia collects food and other items from various churches to help migrant farmworkers and other laborers. (Contributed photo)

In addition to collecting goods, Fitzgerald makes presentations to educate churches about issues facing farmworkers and has promoted legislation on topics such as the need to increase minimum wage protections for certain workers.

The Rev. Rebecca Barnes, coordinator of PHP, said Fitzgerald is a wonderful example of the powerful work that Hunger Action Advocates do in their presbyteries.

“She has many creative ideas of how to get Presbyterians connected to important hunger, poverty and social justice concerns in Virginia, and has been a wonderful model for engaging in ministry that includes education, leader training and advocacy,” Barnes said. “Jessica has also helped in national efforts like our ‘Poverty, by America’ online book study last February and connected us to Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy’s resources from having done a similar statewide book study.”

Fitzgerald, who collaborates with the presbytery’s Compassion, Peace and Justice ministries, has helped to promote the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.’s) One Great Hour of Sharing offering, Matthew 25, the Poor People’s Campaign and other efforts to address hunger, racial justice, poverty and peacemaking.

She also has “worked with the Hunger Ministry Team and presbytery staff to lift, share and highlight all the great things that various churches throughout the presbytery have done to assist communities,” she said in a report to PHP.  They also have provided thousands of dollars in grants to help with hunger relief.

About half of the 44 churches in the presbytery have gardens, which are sometimes used to bless area food pantries. Other initiatives have included a 2022 presbytery-wide cereal campaign that provided thousands of bowls worth of cereal and oatmeal that was used for mobile pantries, summer school distribution and other programs.

Every effort is meaningful to Fitzgerald, no matter the size. She noted, “If everybody makes a small impact together, it’s big.”

Join various Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ministries for an online Town Hall on protecting immigrant and refugee rights near and far. It will be held at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Dec. 11. Register here.

The Presbyterian Hunger Program is one of the Compassion, Peace and Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. For more information about Hunger Action Advocates go here.