Pastor David Mateo, United Church of Chapel Hill: “Today, we are in solidarity with farmworkers, who through the work of their hands have blessed our plates with tomatoes… We will do everything possible so that our community no longer suffers from racism, discrimination and abuse. The Apostle Paul summed it up for us: We are gardeners and field workers, laboring together with God.”
Joshua Orol, Beth Meyer Synagogue: “The people picking tomatoes out in the field deserve dignity, deserve to be paid fairly, and deserve to be protected from violence.”
On Sunday, the second day of the 4 for Fair Food Tour, farmworkers and their families were met by an outpouring of support from the faith community of Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro, North Carolina. With a morning chock-full of religious services and community meals, and an evening vigil in front of the University of North Carolina’s on-campus Wendy’s, tour participants had quite a full day – so we will jump right in!
After a restful night’s sleep at the Presbyterian Church’s New Hope Camp, tour participants gathered for a quick breakfast before heading to a series of Sunday services, where the labor of farmworkers as well as their struggle for justice in the Wendy’s campaign was lifted up before hundreds of parishioners, many of whom shared their excitement with workers for the upcoming March 5th action on UNC’s campus.
The CIW started at the United Church of Chapel Hill with a bilingual mass led by Pastor David Mateo. After asking the farmworkers in the audience to rise as the guests of honor, Pastor Mateo guided the full room through a beautiful reflection on the responsibility of each generation to build a better world and to work creatively and persistently to support their neighbors in times of hardship. Here is just one of the highlights from the morning’s moving sermon:
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