During the month of June, 2020, more than 500 members of the Lewis & Clark College community (students, staff, faculty, friends and family) donated to a fund for the workers who clean our campus.  These Latinx individuals have worked for many years cleaning our community, and they worked especially hard in the months of March, April, and May to keep all of us safe and healthy as the COVID-19 pandemic spread.  They were involuntarily let go in June, and they are now facing an unknown future as the College changes its cleaning contract to a new company.  

During this time of uncertainty, it has been inspiring to witness the outpouring of messages of support, and the financial donations, that have come in for the cleaning staff.  We collected a bit more than $24,000 dollars, which translated into a donation of $825 for each of the 29 members of the cleaning staff.  The workers received their donations on June 30, 2020, and it was a very emotional and powerful experience for us all.  I let the cleaning staff know that a large number of students and faculty will be tracking who is hired under the new contract, and that our expectation is that every current worker will continue working in the fall and beyond.  And, in the years to come, we will also support the cleaning staff in their dream of shifting from being sub-contracted workers, to becoming full-fledged employees of Lewis & Clark College.

But, for the moment, I'd like to convey how grateful the cleaning staff are for this show of support in a time of dramatic shifts in their working lives.  They are so, so touched by the generosity that so many people demonstrated.  And we wish them all the best as they navigate these challenging times!

If you have any questions about the fundraiser, or wish to advocate on behalf of the cleaning staff in the upcoming months/years, please contact:

Bruce Podobnik
Associate Professor of Sociology
Lewis & Clark College
Portland, Oregon
[email redacted]