1. NC FIELD
Newsletter Spring 2011
• leadership
• education
• dignity
Spring has sprung for NC FIELD!
We are pleasd to announce that our organization was a recipient of the Resource-
ful Communities Foundation Creating New Economies Fund (CNEF) sponsored by Z. Smith
Reynolds Foundation, the Appalachian Regional Commission and Burt’s Bees’ Greater Good
Foundation. With this, our first grant, we just keep growing and growing!
CNEF monies will help support activities for more than thirty youth throughout the
summer! There will be professional photography and video instruction with a technology
twist, ecology/gardening crews, service-learning projects planned and university campus
visits! Let us know if you would like to hang out with us one Sunday!
YouthSpeak 2011 Kicks Off!
Our youth groups joined the Project Promise Mentoring Alliance for their Saturday
Academy sessions to prepare for the Youth Town Hall meeting. They arrived prepared
to discuss issues they feel passionate about. Among the topics were equal rights for all
children, DREAM Act legislation, child labor in agriculture,
teen pregnancy support, and discrimination. The youth
were incredibly empowered and our local politicians were
impressed! Feedback from our youth: “Let’s do it again!”
Standby FIELDers, our youth have decided to visit
city council and commissioner meetings in the future to
share all the great things happening in their communities!
Join the YouthSpeak email list at:
www.ncfield.org/youthspeak-2011.html
NC FIELD Advisory Council Members:
Strategic Planning Meeting August 12-13, 2011
NC FIELD will host a retreat for board members and its advisory board members on
August 12-13, 2011. We want to thank everyone for their amazing support, advice and gen-
eral information over the past year. Like most start-ups, we are relying on your experience to
establish the plan that will guide our efforts for the next three years.
Your expertise is needed to lead us into the future!
Please RSVP to executivedirector@ncfield.org as soon as possible!
THANKS WHOLE FOODS!
NC FIELD was the Spot Light Nonprofit with Whole Foods Market of
Raleigh for the month of March and raised $250! A special thanks to Nancy
for her advocacy!
2. NC FIELD Goes to the Movies!
n March 29th the Farmworker Advocacy Network (FAN) sponsored the
O
premiere of the documentary Harvest of Dignity at the Galaxy Theatre
in Cary, North Carolina. NC FIELD members and NC FIELD youth council
members were featured in the documentary The Harvest of Dignity film
explores the current plight of farmworkers in North Carolina and com-
pares today’s injustices to those demonstrated by Edward Murrow in the
1960 CBS documentary Harvest of Shame. The images that shocked the nation over five
decades ago hold little in contrast to the current reality for migrant and seasonal farm-
workers in North Carolina and throughout the rest of the country. For more information
on Harvest of Dignity campaign please visit www.harvestofdignity.org
Additionally, the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University screened three
short films they produced as organizing documentaries surrounding the child labor bill. The
Center for Documentary Studies worked with youth groups and parents to create the me-
dia. The project received support from NC FIELD, AFOP Children in the Fields, the Lenoir
County Migrant Education Program and NC Migrant Education Program. Special thanks to
Emily Drakage and Peter Eversoll for the use of their photos. The invitation for the film
screenings is a photo taken by Yesenia of the youth council.
Photos For Sale
The Youth Council- Poder Juvenil Campesino -
continues to develop media for use in documen-
taries and photo exhibits as part of their efforts
to raise awareness about child labor in agricul-
ture. In 2010, they showed their photos and vid-
eos at the gallery ROOM 100 in Durham, among
other exhibits across North Carolina. Show some
love and spread the word! They are selling their
prints of their photos- all proceeds from sales go
to pay for youth ou can find their work at
www.ncfield.org
Support out youth activities– buy some
excellent photography!
Great photo Yesenia!
NC FIELD Outreach
On April 19th NC FIELD members traveled to
Elon College for an all day Child Farmworker Aware-
ness Event. The day featured a Photography Exhibi-
tion, Video Screening and Q&A Panel Discussion. Katie
Lampe, senior student at Elon College, and NC FIELD
intern, has been helping out with youth council activi-
ties as well as with the planning of the Elon event. A
huge thanks to Dr. Betty Morgan and Katie Lampe for
helping arrange a wonderful and successful day!
3. Home Sweet Home!
NC FIELD and the Fuller Center for Housing have been very busy this spring
as we continue renovating the houses on Blount Street in Kinston for two farmworker
families. Most of the roof has been re-shingled, the interior is down to its beauti-
ful, solid frame and the debris has been removed. We have a dumpster out back
and there’s talk of electrical and
plumbing inspections!
During March and April stu-
dents from UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-
Wilmington, and Rhodes College
of Memphis, Tennessee traveled
to Kinston to help with the reno-
vations. A special thanks to Mac
Plosser of the Fuller Center, the
families, friends and all the vol-
unteers for your hard work and
wonderful support! Stay tuned and
dust off your hardhats!
Community Spotlight:
Theresa Williams-Bethea
Kinston native, Theresa Williams-Bethea of Kinston Business Support Ser-
vices, Inc. has been instrumental in the success of youth-supported program-
ming in the Kinston area, with a particular emphasis on issues of education,
diversity, social and economic justice.
Her successful career in founding and supporting nonprofit organizations
in the Charlotte area has served Kinston’s youth well since
her homecoming in 2008. She is the Founder and Executive
Director of Young Women of Promise (YWOP). She leads
the Project Promise Mentoring Alliance, a dropout preven-
tion initiative of the Partnership for Children of Lenoir and
Greene Counties and the Kinston Promise Neighborhood.
Since 2008, she has successfully volunteered her grant-
writing talents to local nonprofit organizations which has
resulted in more than one million dollars in grant awards
for programs that benefit children in Lenoir County.
Theresa is a mentor and friend to NC FIELD Board
of Directors and youth, facilitated the donation of our of-
fice space, and is a constant advocate for our youth in activities that promote
inclusion, diversity and leadership. We honor her contributions and deeply ap-
preciate everything she continues to do for our children. Thanks Theresa!
4. OVACIONES!
Poder Juevenil Campesino
Youth Council Visits Local Universities
Saturday, April 9th the youth
council participated in a UNC-W
Campus visit with the Teaching Fel-
lows as our guide. It was a wonder-
ful outing and really got the youth
thinking and excited about college.
Special thanks to Amy Rottman and
her teaching fellows at UNC-W.
On Cesar Chavez Day, March
30th, members of the Youth Council joined ECU grad student Ana and FIELD member Rachel
as they passed out information about farmworkers at East Carolina University for Farm-
worker Awareness Week. Afterwards, they took a campus tour.
Honoring Civil Rights
At Youth Council meetings this Spring, we
focused on learning about civil rights leaders
who were fundamental in change both here in
the United States and around the World. The
work of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Ghandi
and, of course, Cesar Chavez were used as
inspiration for working towards equality and
dignity for all.
Dates to Remember!
• June 2, 2011: Teens and Kids Who Care Year-End Celebration! (6-9 pm)
• June 14, 2011: NC FIELD Board of Directors Meeting
• June 12, 2011: Youth Council meeting
• July 12, 2011: NC FIELD Board of Directors Meeting
• July 17, 2011: Youth Council meeting
• August 9, 2011: NC FIELD Board of Directors Meeting
• August 12 & 13, 2011: NC FIELD Board and Advisory Board Retreat
• August 14, 2011: Youth Council meeting
NC FIELD, Inc. 327 N. Queen Street, Suite 110 Kinston, NC 28501
email: Executivedirector@ncfield.org www.ncfield.org
Mission: To create strategies and initiate collaborative actions that will promote justice and equality by
increasing access to opportunities for farm working communities in North Carolina.
Goals: End child labor in agriculture
Develop and create additional migrant educational programming specifically for unaccompanied
minors and migrant children and youth
Eliminate food scarcity among the farmworker communities
Facilitate dignified housing for migrant farmworker families and unaccompanied youth
Chair: Peter Eversoll Vice-Chair: Melissa Bailey Secretary: Rachel Wright
Treasurer: Pedro Sanchez Executive Director: Emily Drakage Legal Counsel: Scott Brown