Worker Education Grants

Worker Education Grants. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

The Washington Apple Education Foundation Farmworker/Ag Worker Education Committee has been busy recently handing out some grant money to various organizations according to WAEF Executive Director, Jennifer Witherbee.

WITHERBEE: Those are organizations that have unique and inventive programs that are targeting farmworker families and generally we know those are families who primary language is Spanish and are finding some ways to provide innovative programs to these families to make sure that kids are achieving success at pace with their peers and adults are getting the opportunity to achieve some English language learning.

Communication is one of the goals of this kind of program and Witherbee says a number of grants were awarded.

WITHERBEE: This year we awarded 11 grants in Central Washington. Those were awarded for programs from Brewster down to Sunnyside. Some of them were designed for kids that are K-12 age and others for adults.

Witherbee talks about how the grants are used.

WITHERBEE: All inventive, all with some proven success. Some of these organizations are groups we have worked with for several years in a row and others are new to us. Examples are the Brewster Elementary School, we have been helping to purchase library books. In Yakima we’ve recently started working with Circle of Success doing the same thing.

For more information visit their website at www.waef.org.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.