Photos shown above of the K of C councils in District 117 collecting items for migrant workers who had to be in quarantine.

In June several migrant workers near Burford, ON, tested positive for COVID-19 and thus needed to quarantine for 14 days.  In order to help supply the workers with some necessities to see the workers through their quarantine, Father Peter Ciallella, chaplain of Blessed Sacrament council 16814 organized a collection of these necessities from all the parishes in the Brant deanery.  The Knights of Columbus were involved from the very start, helping to sort all the items into care packages for the migrant workers who were quarantined.

As Father Ciallella writes, “like a vineyard with many vines and branches, our ministry and outreach to the migrant agricultural workers, seek to connect with all those directly and indirectly concerned and committed to the betterment and improvement of the conditions of the migrant agricultural workers.  We seek to connect our migrant workers’ community with civic organizations, churches, local farming communities and beyond.”

The farming industry provides much opportunity work for foreign workers from Mexico, Guatemala, Jamaica, Trinidad and other regions.  Without the foreign works hard labour, much of Canada’s agricultural industry would grind to a halt.