Reusable Masks for Yakima & Skagit Farmworkers

The Seattle Immigrant Rights Action Group is fundraising to purchase high-quality, reusable cotton masks for migrant farm-working families in the Skagit Valley and Yakima areas. The masks will be ordered from a manufacturer in Seattle, who makes them in child and adult sizes according to CDC guidelines. We will deliver the masks to Jose Ortiz, a long-time organizer in the Skagit Valley region, and La Casa Hogar in the Yakima region. They are distributing the masks as part of their outreach to migrant families about the coronavirus.

Washington state has been struggling to protect our agricultural workforce during this pandemic. Guidance on workplace standards for fields and warehouses was only issued by WA Labor & Industries after a lawsuit, and there are strikes in Yakima County because the standards are inadequate. In central Washington right now, the coronavirus infection rates are among the highest in the country.

Study after study is showing that masks really do help to slow the spread of the disease. We’re hoping to do our part to keep everyone safe in our state, by working to ensure that everyone has access to the masks we should be wearing in public right now.