For Immediate Release s338

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For information contact Barbara Mainster, RCMA Executive Director: (239) 658-3560 Sylvia Delgado / Gloria Padilla, Immokalee Area Office: (239) 658-3600

RCMA ASSISTING HUNDREDS OF MIGRANT FAMILIES LEFT JOBLESS IN HURRICANE WILMA’S WAKE

IMMOKALEE, FL – Dec. 21, 2005 -- RCMA, Florida’s largest provider of rural child care and early education, has launched an emergency aid program targeting 400 migrant families without work in December and January because of Hurricane Wilma, according RCMA Executive Director Barbara Mainster. Families began receiving weekly bags of groceries the first week of December, and the effort continues weekly as long as funding holds out, Mainster said. Families pick up groceries Friday evenings at RCMA’s Immokalee Community School, and RCMA staff deliver groceries to other families without transportation. RCMA hopes to raise $240,000 to fund the program, which includes payments for rent and electricity, through the end of January, Mainster said. So far, over $105,000 has been received. A Naples philanthropy, Professional Givers Anonymous, donated $80,000; the National Council of La Raza, the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights organization, contributed $15,000; and the Florida Farm Bureau donated $10,000. Individual donors, including growers, businesses, concerned citizens and RCMA employees, have also donated cash and groceries, Mainster explained. Children of the targeted families are receiving dinner weeknights at RCMA centers, in addition to the breakfast and lunch meals that are part of RCMA’s services, she added. “Wilma devastated the young tomato crop in Collier County,” Mainster said. “Migrant workers returning for the 2005-06 harvest found some work in October and November re-planting the fields, but those plants aren’t producing any crops for them to harvest now. Other growers didn’t replant at all after the storm. 2

“With no wages coming in to pay for groceries, rent and utilities, these families need help. Nutrition is basic. The children, especially, need good meals,” she said. To donate, make checks payable to RCMA Wilma Relief and mail them to RCMA, 402 W. Main St., Immokalee, FL 34142. Donations of canned goods, specifically Crisco, Spam, tomato sauce and fruits, can be dropped off at the Main Street office. For questions or details, contact Geva L. Salerno, RCMA development director, at (239) 658-3560 or [email protected]. Founded Oct. 1, 1965 in the Miami-Dade County farming area known as the Redlands, RCMA today operates 76 centers, including two charter schools, serving over 6,200 children. With centers in 20 Florida counties, RCMA serves approximately 1,000 children in Collier County. RCMA is a non-profit, non-sectarian organization funded by local, state and federal grants, as well as the generosity of businesses, individuals, the United Way and other organizations. More than 2,000 children are on waiting lists statewide, over 300 of them in Collier. For more information, see www.rcma.org.