Send Maria's family your condolence letter

[Omaha Steve]

Last week we told you about the tragic death of 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez. Maria died due to heat stroke while laboring in a Stockton area vineyard.



Maria Isabel, who was two months pregnant, was working for Merced Farm Labor in a vineyard owned by West Coast Grape Farming. Her body temperature was 108.4 degrees when she was finally taken to a hospital nearly two hours after she collapsed. (Click to read Maria's story.) http://www.ufw.org/_board.php?mode=view&b_code=hotissue&b_no=4304

To date no one from the companies involved has had the decency to express condolences to Maria's family--not the farm labor contractor, not the company who owns the field where Maria labored, nor the wine distributor. There have been no letters, no one showed up at the funeral--nothing.

Please help us show Maria's family--including her grieving mother--the support from the community at large. Help us show her the impact Maria’s life and death had on strangers she never knew, people whose paths never crossed hers.

Please write a condolence note to Maria’s mother and family--a line or two will do--although you are welcome to write more. Help us show Maria’s mother that thousands of people recognize the value of Maria's life.

We will be printing out these letters and giving them to Maria’s grieving mother. Please tell her you care: http://www.ufwaction.org/campaign/maria?rk=O7S3S57qsuPCE


http://www.ufwaction.org/campaign/maria

Tell-A-Friend: Forward this message to at least 10 friends or family and ask them to send a letter too.

Associated Press reported that Jimenez' employer, Merced Farm Labor, had been issued “three citations in 2006 for exposing workers to heat stroke, failing to train workers on heat stress prevention...” They said the $2,250 it owes in fines has not been paid.



06/02/2008 News10.net: Hundreds Begin Four-Day March in Lodi in Memory of Fallen Farm Worker http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=42709



05/31/2008 Sacramento Bee: Editorial - A tragedy in the farm fields is all too familiar: http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/977923.html



Photos of Pilgrimage for Fallen Farm Workers, Day 1/Fotos de Peregrinacion por Campesinos Caidos, Dia uno



Video: Maria's fiance Florentino Bautista talks about what happened on May 14./Video: El comprometido de Maria, Florentino Bautista, habla sobre lo que paso el 14 de mayo http://www.ufw.org/_board.php?mode=view&b_code=res_multi&b_no=4325&page=1&field=&key=&n=112

More media clips, news releases, video, photos and updates at: www.ufw.org/heatregs


Pilgrimage for Fallen Farm Workers/Peregrinacion por Campesinos Caidos

UPDATE:

Day 3: About 50 walkers set out from Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Thornton today on the third day of our four day peregrinacion to the state capital in memory of Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez.

The peregrinos include UFW president Arturo Rodriguez, members of Maria's family, Maria's fiancé Florentino Bautista, farm workers and many more.

On June 1, some 600 walkers set out from St. Anne's Church in Lodi on their way to Sacramento. Leading the solemn procession were three coffins--one for Maria Isabel, one for her unborn child, and the third for all the other farm workers who have died due to the heat.

Farm workers, supporters and those who simply wanted to honor Maria Isabel's memory came from all over California--from Salinas in the west, Napa in the north, and Kern County in the south – so that what happened to Maria Isabel does not happen again.

The peregrinacion will arrive at the State Capital in Sacramento on Wednesday, June 4. Hundreds are expected to join the final day of the "Pilgrimage for Fallen Farm Workers" and help give a strong message to the governor and legislators as well as growers and labor contractors.

If you are in the Sacramento area, please join us and help us deliver this message.



If you cannot attend the pilgrimage, please donate to help us cover the costs. It will cost more than $47,000 for items such as buses and vans for farm workers from all over California as well as food, housing and of course, cool water for the hot sun.

Wednesday's Schedule

South Side Park
8th St. and W St.
Sacramento
10 a.m.

California Capitol
West Steps
12 noon

Check out our website at: www.ufw.org and keep up with the latest news.

[kdmorris]

1. Done

What a sad story! Corporations need to be held accountable for treating people like this.

[FloridaJudy]

2. Horrible.

No water available to workers in 92 degree heat? I'd call that criminal negligence. The owners/contractors need to be charged with manslaughter - at the very least.

[roguevalley]

3. this is so horrible. thank you for the info.