British Columbian unions and Abbotsford Community Services are collecting donations to help dozens of Mexican farmworkers who watched a fire consume the building containing most of their possessions Thursday morning in Abbotsford.
The fire displaced 78 farmworkers employed at Lakeland Flowers on No. 4 Road. The workers were relocated to other farms, and the Mexican consulate posted a message yesterday saying the workers have a “roof, food, clothing and will soon be able to recover their identity documents.”
But the workers are still in need of many essentials, so the BC Federation of Labour put out a call this morning on Facebook calling for donations for a range of items, including toiletries like toothbrushes, work essentials like work boots, bedding, hats, suitcases and old cellphones and chargers.
Abbotsford Community Services has also gotten involved, and the organization’s food bank is helping supply food and toilettries. ACS is accepting donations of gift cards, toiletries food or good quality clothing at its building at 2420 Montrose Avenue and at the food bank, at 33914 Essendene Avenue. Those locations are open Monday to Friday, and ACS is looking to secure a weekend collection site as well.
ACS has also set up a fund to support the farmworkers. It can be found at abbotsfordcommunityservices.com/donate/farmworkers.
