On May 18th at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Clearwater, The Pinellas Support Committee of The National Farm Worker Ministry (PSC) along with Tampa Bay YAYA screened the documentary ‘The Harvest’.
The documentary focuses on the lives of young men and women who are migrant farm workers and sheds light on the obstacles that they face as they travel across the country. The event brought 36 people, all who represented a diverse group of people from the community of Clearwater and its surrounding areas.
Maria McCourt of the PSC spoke on the importance of supporting farm worker issues and why it was important to support her organization. Bert Perry of the NFWM gave an update on the local and national farm worker campaigns and what people could do to support those campaigns. Antonio Franco spoke on what YAYA is doing throughout the state and presented a petition from the Farm Worker Association of Florida that asks Florida’s Rick Scott to allow for state funds to go towards supporting a local clinic in Apopka that caters to farm workers in that area.
During the film, anybody could clearly see the audience was in shock when they saw the images of young children working in the fields. After the film, Antonio Franco spoke about his experience visiting the camps in Plant City and how he met young people who shared the same stories as those told by the people in the film. He also asked the group to keep supporting organizations like the PSC and YAYA, and to stay involved. I, Octavio Alvarez, got the chance to go around and ask people to read and sign the petitions.
Octavio Alvarez
Tampa Bay YAYA
