At least two Franklin County farms are trying to raise money to help their Jamaican workers after Hurricane Melissa wreaked havoc on their Caribbean island homeland.
Clark Brothers Orchards in Ashfield and Apex Orchards in Shelburne Falls have started crowdfunding campaigns to provide extra assistance to their employees during this difficult time. The Category 5 storm became the most powerful on record to hit Jamaica, a country of the Caribbean, notching winds of up to 185 mph and killing at least 32 people there.
“These guys are the heart and soul of the farm, and if it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t still be here,” said Naomi Clark, co-owner of the Ashfield farm, on Monday. “So we want to support them.”
Clark set up a FundRazr account (tinyurl.com/AshfieldOrchard), while Apex Orchards created a GoFundMe page (tinyurl.com/ApexOrchards) that has been at least temporarily paused after having evenly dispensed $7,905 among its eight Jamaican workers. Farm co-owner Courtney Basil said she dropped off the men at Bradley International Airport early Monday morning and might reopen the account once she learns how much more assistance the workers need.
The workers are seasonal, and those at Apex have returned home, and those at Clark Brothers will remain until the week before Christmas.
workers after Hurricane Melissa struck the island. CONTRIBUTED
She said some of the workers live in areas along the coastline, which was hit hardest. Several had flooded vehicles and homes that lost roofs in the hurricane, and some went several days without hearing from family members after the storm made landfall.
“It was the most somber that I had ever seen them, which is understandable,” Clark said. “The donations really lifted their spirits. They could not stop saying thank you and how blessed they are.”
She said Apex Orchards gets the same eight men every season, with the longest one having worked for the business for 38 years. Some are “legacy workers,” the sons of men who retired after working through the federal H-2A program, which allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary agricultural jobs. Clark said two of the men arrive in April to help with pruning, and the others come in mid-July.
Clark said she wants to raise $10,000, ideally before the men return home. She said she had 16 Jamaicans and eight have already left because the harvest had finished, and has not yet heard from the ones who went home. Clark explained the family farm grows apples and seedless table grapes.
She mentioned she has twice been to Jamaica and has seen the beautiful farmlands some of the workers come from.
“I’d go every year if I could afford it,” she said. “It’s amazing. The people are just incredible.”
