“I grew up in a migrant farm worker family. We would take all the family, leave south Texas and travel to Michigan where we worked from April through September harvesting strawberries, cherries, cucumbers, tomatoes, pears, plums, peaches, and peppers. We stayed until apple season [and then we went home],” remembers Feliz Garza, NFWM Board Member and past president. “I got to attend college where I met the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, KY. I became an associate member of the community and they knew that I came from a migrant farm worker family so they asked if I would represent them on the NFWM board.”

Twice per year, the NFWM board meets in a location where farm workers are organizing. “If they have an action, we participate in that action with them,” said Felix. He recalled a meeting in Washington State to support a march organized by Families United for Justice [FUJ] to call attention to the death of a farm worker who died from heat stroke.

“We marched 12 miles in the heat and arrived at the company headquarters responsible for the worker who died. They [FUJ] held a witness event where they selected a group of us to hear the complaints from the workers about what was happening in that company. I was one of the individuals asked to serve. They presented a lot of evidence of abuse and inappropriate supervision by the company. We as a group found the company guilty of negligence and not treating workers fairly. It was a moving experience.”