Food donations are being sought to help Caribbean and Spanish-speaking migrant workers in the Leamington area, many who are suffering from COVID-19.

A Labour Caravan and Food Drive is taking place on September 6 to raise non-perishable food, which will be taken to the workers, who are confined to their farms.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada’s Racially Visible Members Committee is sponsoring the drive to help the farmers, many who are in isolation.

The group says that even though the workers have tested positive for the virus they are forced to work during the quarantine, rather than self-quarantine.

“The workers are forced to work on the farm and they are not allowed to leave the premises,” the group says in an online post.

They usually have to travel some distance from the farms to the local stores or restaurants to obtain their necessities.

Those with a partially- filled pantry are being encouraged to donate non-perishable food items to the Leamington farm worker’s food drive. Please email them at rvctoronto@gmail.com.

The group will get the food the ailing farmworkers.

About 10,000 farmworkers yearly leave their families at home to travel to Ontario to work in our agricultural and dairy farms. Most are from the Caribbean, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and other countries.

Some have been coming here for 20-years or more.

The workers have been, and still are, hard hit by COVID-19 because they live and work in close quarters.