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To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Beth-El Farmworker Ministry Inc. is hosting a symposium on Nov. 5 that is designed to address daily struggles for farmworkers, including topics such as human trafficking, fair salaries, health and well-being.
 
The event will take place at the Beth-El Farmworker Ministry facilities at 18240 U.S. Highway 301 South in Wimauma.
 
Kathleen Dain, Executive Director of Beth-El Farmworker Ministry, says the celebration will honor the Tampa Bay area’s farmworkers whose labor is physically intensive and financially challenging.
 
“The majority of crops in Florida are picked by hand and require the individual labor of the farmworker, but farmworkers receive wages based on the quantity of crops picked,” Dain explains. 

A farmworker who picks tomatoes, for example, receives an average wage of one or two cents per pound picked, and is expected to pick 4,000 pounds daily, which is the equivalent of boxes stacked eight floors in height. For that labor, the farmworker is paid between $40-$80 a day.
 
“Most farmworkers work seven months each year, following the crops in their seasons (across the nation.) The work is very demanding with long hours and frequently under harsh conditions,” according to the letter of invitation to join Beth-El’s 40th anniversary celebration. 

The celebration will conclude with a dinner in which Beth-El’s history will be recounted and its future plans revealed.
 
During four decades, Beth-El Farmworker Ministry has provided food and clothing for needy farmworker families in Wimauma. It also provides legal aid and health services and serves, on average, 600 families weekly. 

“Every day we have fruits and vegetables on our table that have come from the farmworker’s hard labor -- even though those same fruits and vegetables may not easily make it onto their own tables,” Dain says.

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