Auction Ends: Oct 2, 2010 08:00 PM EDT
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Thu Oct 14, 2010
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$1,422
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Serve Justice at Your Table!
The mission of RMM is to address the needs of the rural poor, including migrant and immigrant farmworkers and their families. Our Mission Statement lays out our focus clearly and succinctly:
Rural and Migrant Ministry works for the creation of a just, rural New York State through:
Nurturing leadership;
Standing with the disenfranchised, especially farmworkers and rural workers; Changing unjust systems and structures. RMM pursues this mission through several programs focusing on the needs of members of rural communities of New York State.
Our Accompaniment Program supports farmworkers as they seek to improve their living and working conditions through the coordination of the Justice for Farmworkers (JFW) Campaign. 'Over ten years ago a number of organizations and individuals joined with farmworkers across New York to create the Justice for Farmworkers Campaign.
The Campaign’s primary goal is to improve working and living conditions for New York’s farmworkers – primarily through organizing. RMM was one of the
original founding members of the Campaign.
The Campaign realized that organizing among farmworkers in New York State was greatly hindered by NYS labor law which denied farmworkers protection while bargaining collectively. Since the 1930's, New York’s farmworkers have been excluded from the same rights and protections that most other workers take for granted, including a day of rest per week, overtime pay, disability insurance, and the right to bargain collectively with their employers.
The Justice for Farmworker Campaign has had some successes as farmworkers have been granted the right to clean drinking water in the fields,
sanitation facilities, and the right to the same minimum wage as other workers. However, exclusions still remain.
The Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act, a bill currently in the NY State Legislature, would remove
these exclusions and grant farmworkers the dignity and equality they deserve.
What can you do? Get in touch with the leader of the New York State Senate - Senator John Sampson (518) 455-2788 - and tell him that you want
farmworkers to have equal rights. Or, call the Governor of New York, David Paterson 518-474-8390 and tell him that farmworkers should be treated equally.
Rural & Migrant Ministry's Youth Empowerment Program!
RMM's Youth Empowerment Programs focus on the needs and development of this growing community of otherwise overlooked and therefore underserved young people. The summer youth programs are part of the Youth Empowerment Program, a vital and exciting part of our mission.
Beginning in 1988 as an overnight summer camp for 100 children from rural and migrant communities, the YEP evolved to become a series of programs offered year-round. Its mission is to enable rural and migrant youth to confront their own experiences of prejudice and inequality through the positive development of leadership skills and the creation of a community of support. The YEP include:
Summer Day Camps in three communities in five rural counties. These camps provide a vital service to working families and offer many young people a first-time experience in personal enrichment and creativity. For many young people, these camps represent the first step in a long relationship with RMM and with each other, during which they are given the opportunity to develop skills and attitudes that will enable them to face and overcome barriers that confront them each day of their lives. The Day Camp is a leadership experience that gives children a taste of democracy in action and begins their journey to empowerment;
An Overnight Leadership Camp, focusing on the same skill-building and leadership development activities as the day camps, which now welcomes more than 100 campers, ages 8-18, and has become a remarkably diverse enterprise, with a population that is 40% Latino, 40% African-American, and 20% European-American;
The Youth Arts Group (YAG), a year-round leadership development program for a group of 20 or more culturally-diverse high-school students from six school districts in the Hudson Valley. As they describe in their own words, they are “determined to create change in our lives and communities. We are committed to educating and empowering ourselves and others, developing and practicing leadership skills, while acting as allies to each other and to those seeking social justice.” Meeting as a group one evening each week and involved in projects throughout other parts of each week, the members of YAG address theme issues chosen by them at the beginning of each year. This year the group has chosen the issues of farmworker justice, the creation of an alternative portrayal of youth in the media, and ensuring equal education for all.
Become a Sponsor
If you or your organization would like to become a sponsor please complete our simple form and we will contact you.