New or lightly used long-sleeve shirts are being collected for farmworkers from March 24 to 31 by Maui Economic Opportunity’s National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP).
The Nat’l Long Sleeve Shirt Drive, organized nationally by the Association of Farmworker Opportunities Programs, coincides with Farmworker Awareness Week, which brings attention to farmworkers and honors their work.
Long-sleeve shirts provide protection from pesticide exposure and heat-related illnesses. Donations, which will be given to farmworkers, need to be light colored, natural fabric and long sleeved.
They may be dropped off at MEO Family Center, 99 Mahalani St., Wailuku; MEO Moloka‘i, 380 Kolapa Place, Kaunakakai; and MEO Lana‘i, 1144 Ilima Ave., No. 102, Lana‘i City. The American Job Center in the Maui County Business Resource Center, 110 Ala’ihi Street No. 209, is also a drop-off location.
MEO is Hawai‘i’s NFJP operator, the nonprofit agency’s only statewide program. With clients on Maui, Moloka‘i, Lana‘i, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu and Hawai‘i Island, MEO NFJP provides education and training, such as for GED high school equivalency diplomas and commercial driver’s licenses; supportive services, including child care, transportation, work tools and clothing; job training; and employment.
NFJP also offers training and certifications at no cost to farms. This includes first aid and CPR training, heat and pesticide certifications and partially covering the cost of on-the-job training.
For more information, contact NFJP case managers Suzette Bacarro at (808) 243-4369 or suzette.bacarro@meoinc.org, or Uilani Ah Chan at (808) 243-4370 or uilani.ahchan@meoiinc.org.
About Maui Economic Opportunity
Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc., is a nonprofit agency that’s part of the national Community Action Partnership network, whose goal is to help low income individuals and families and disenfranchised people help themselves and transform their lives. Chartered in 1965, MEO offers more than 40 programs that assist low income people, kupuna, youths, persons with disabilities, immigrants and other disenfranchised individuals countywide. MEO runs the Human Services specialized transportation program for health and dialysis appointments, after-school and youth sports activities and more; and the Maui Bus paratransit system; Head Start preschools and Kahi Kamali‘i Infant Care Center; as well as programs that offer kupuna socialization and information; rent, mortgage and utility assistance; Spanish interpretation and translation; entrepreneurial and financial classes and support, including microloans; inmate reintegration into the community after release; youth drinking, drug, smoking, bullying and suicide prevention; and employment training and placement. For more information about the entire array of programs, visit meoinc.org or call (808) 249-2990.
