Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF) is a left-of-center organizing and advocacy organization based in Durham, North Carolina. It deploys college students and farmworkers as community organizers in North and South Carolina and disseminates information on farmworker issues nationwide. Its goal is to improve living and working conditions and a path to citizenship for illegal-immigrant and H-2A visa-status seasonal agricultural workers. ^{1 2}

Origins

Student Action with Farmworkers traces its origins to the 1970s and 1980s. During those decades, Duke University faculty and students investigated conditions in North Carolina agricultural laborer camps, traveled to Florida to work with agencies serving agricultural workers, testified before Congress, and created a legal aid society for farmworkers. The Center for Documentary Studies at Duke received a grant from the Department of Education in 1990 supporting student efforts documenting the lives of farmworker children. Both Duke and University of North Carolina students participated in that summer service-learning project. Student Action with Farmworkers incorporated as a nonprofit in 1992 through the efforts of those students. ³

Activities

Student Action with Farmworkers deploys college students and farmworkers as community organizers in North and South Carolina farming communities. The majority of students are Latino and bilingual in Spanish and English. Many are drawn from farmworker families. ⁴

The students connect farmworkers them with services, advocate on their behalf, acquaint them with their rights, and mobilize them for protests and other activities designed to bring their problems to the attention of the public and to pressure public officials. ^{5 6}

Through the unpaid Into the Fields Internship, college students conduct outreach to farmworkers to acquaint them with their rights, connect them to unions and nonprofits, and recruit them into community organizing efforts. ⁷ The paid Solidaridad Internship uses interns as clerical staff and trains them in community organizing skills. Cosecha offers nonprofit management and advanced community organizing training to previous interns. ⁸

SAF’s Levante Leadership Institute trains farmworker youth in community organizing and connects their families with health and human services and legal aid. It partners with the Adelante Education Coalition to advocate for access to higher education for migrant youth. ^{9 10}

SAF’s From the Ground Up generates publications, documentaries, and a speaker program while its National Farmworkers Awareness Week coordinates an effort in 20 states to bring awareness of migrant issues to the public and policymakers through protests, marches, teach-ins, donation of hygiene kits and clothing, film screenings, blood drives, social media campaigns, and other activities by college students, faculty, nonprofit staff, and volunteers. ^{11 12}

In 2022, 33 interns participated in the college student internship programs. Ten farmworker youth participated in the Levante Leadership Institute with three proceeding on to higher education. ¹³

Funding

In 2022, the organization received 99% of its revenue from contributions and grants. It reported $238,051 in grant income for that year. Approximately 21% of its income is derived from grants with the remainder from individual contributions. ¹⁴ In 2021, SAF had more than 1,400 individual contributors. ¹⁵

Grants received by SAF include $87,000 from the Duke Endowment; $64,000 from Triangle Community Foundation; and $35,000 from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. ¹⁶

Policy Objectives

In a statement submitted in 2019 to the Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives, Student Action with Farmworkers advocated an earned pathway to permanent residency and citizenship as well as labor protections and wages comparable to those of US citizens for experienced but undocumented farmworkers and workers on H-2A temporary foreign worker visas. ^{17 18}

Leadership

Sylvia Zapata Shoemaker, the executive director of Student Action with Farmworkers, is a third generation Texan from the Rio Grande Valley. Her parents were farmworkers in Washington state and Texas. ¹⁹ She graduated from Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina with a Bachelor’s Degree, subsequently working as an economic services eligibility caseworker and a family and children’s Medicaid recertification supervisor. ²⁰

Zapata Shoemaker succeeded Melinda Wiggins, who led the organization from 1996 until November 2022. ²¹ Wiggins, a daughter of sharecroppers, is now the director of strategy and Operations at the LIFT Fund, a left-of-center funder which supports worker organizing nationwide. ²²

1. Student Action with Farmworkers. “Statement of Student Action with Farmworkers Submitted to the Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary April 3, 2019 Hearing: “Securing the Future of American Agriculture.” HHRG-116-JU01-20190403-SD005.pdf. Accessed January 25, 2024. https://docs.house.gov › meetings › JU › JU01 › 20190403 › 109235 › HHRG-116-JU01-20190403-SD0
2. “Student Action with Farmworkers.” Accessed January 24, 2024. https://saf-unite.org/
3. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. “Student Action With Farmworkers Records, 1950-2022, Bulk 1992-2022 – Archives & Manuscripts at Duke University Libraries.” Accessed January 25, 2024. https://archives.lib.duke.edu/bookmarks/safarmwork
4. “STUDENT ACTION WITH FARMWORKERS Reviews and Ratings | Durham, NC | Donate, Volunteer, Review | GreatNonprofits.” Accessed January 27, 2024. https://greatnonprofits.org/org/student-action-with-farmworkers.
5. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. “Student Action With Farmworkers Records, 1950-2022, Bulk 1992-2022 – Archives & Manuscripts at Duke University Libraries.” Accessed January 25, 2024. https://archives.lib.duke.edu/bookmarks/safarmwork
6. SOUTHERN PARTNERS FUND. “COVD-19 Grantee Spotlight Student Action with Farmworkers.” COVID-19-Grantee-Spotlight-Student-Action-with-Farmworkers.pdf. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://southernpartnersfund.org/.
7. Evans, Jennifer. “Student Action with Farmworkers Is Back in the Fields!” Food and Faith, June 14, 2021. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.presbyterianmission.org/food-faith/student-action-with-farmworkers-is-back-in-the-fields/.
8. Roberts, Andrea Suozzo, Alec Glassford, Ash Ngu, Brandon. “Student Action With Farmworkers, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica, May 9, 2013. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/561789014/202311089349301316/full
9. “Student Action with Farmworkers.” Accessed January 24, 2024. https://saf-unite.org/
10. “STUDENT ACTION WITH FARMWORKERS – GuideStar Profile.” Accessed January 24, 2024. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/56-1789014
11. “Student Action with Farmworkers.” Accessed January 24, 2024. https://saf-unite.org/
12. “STUDENT ACTION WITH FARMWORKERS Reviews and Ratings | Durham, NC | Donate, Volunteer, Review | GreatNonprofits.” Accessed January 27, 2024. https://greatnonprofits.org/org/student-action-with-farmworkers.
13.  Roberts, Andrea Suozzo, Alec Glassford, Ash Ngu, Brandon. “Student Action With Farmworkers, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica, May 9, 2013. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/561789014/202311089349301316/full
14. Roberts, Andrea Suozzo, Alec Glassford, Ash Ngu, Brandon. “Student Action With Farmworkers, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica, May 9, 2013. Accessed January 24, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/561789014/202311089349301316/full
15. STUDENT ACTION WITH FARMWORKERS. “Annual Report.” Accessed January 24, 2024. https://saf-unite.org/?s=annual+report
16. “Student Action with Farmworkers | Durham, NC | Cause IQ.” Accessed January 24, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/student-action-with-farmworkers,561789014/
17. DOL. “H-2A Temporary Agricultural Program.” Accessed January 27, 2024. http://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/programs/h-2a.
18. Student Action with Farmworkers. “Statement of Student Action with Farmworkers Submitted to the Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary April 3, 2019 Hearing: “Securing the Future of American Agriculture.” HHRG-116-JU01-20190403-SD005.pdf. Accessed January 25, 2024. https://docs.house.gov › meetings › JU › JU01 › 20190403 › 109235 › HHRG-116-JU01-20190403-SD0
19. “Welcome to SAF’s New Executive Director! – Student Action with Farmworkers,” June 1, 2022.  Accessed January 25, 2024.  https://saf-unite.org/news/welcome-to-safs-new-executive-director/
20. “Sylvia Zapata – Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States | Professional Profile | LinkedIn.” Accessed January 25, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sylvia-zapata-981b4a70.
21. “Melinda Wiggins – Director of Strategy & Operations – Lift Fund | LinkedIn.” Accessed January 25, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/melinda-wiggins-2434807
22. “Melinda Wiggins – The LIFT Fund.” Accessed January 25, 2024. https://theliftfund.org/melinda-wiggins/