Migrant Workers Family Support Fund Delivers Cheque to Hampstead Tragedy Widow
The widow of one of the victims of the horrific collision near Hampstead, Ontario has become the fourth recipient of a disbursement from the Migrant Workers Family Support Fund set up by UFCW Canada and the AWA to support and assist the families of the workers killed or injured in a two-vehicle crash on February 6.
Nicaraguan worker Juan Castillo was one of 11 individuals killed when the van he was travelling in was struck by another truck. His widow, Samaria Carolina Enamorado lives in Kitchener, Ontario. On June 8, she was presented with a cheque from the fund by UFCW Canada General Counsel and Director of Human Rights Naveen Mehta, on behalf of UFCW Canada National President Wayne Hanley.
The disbursement was one of 14 equal portions to the individuals or families of the 14 workers who were killed or injured in the Hampstead tragedy. In the wake of the accident, the Migrant Workers Family Support Fund raised over $210,000 through the generosity of individuals, unions, and other organizations across Canada with 100% of the monies collected to go to the victims and their families.
Juan Carranza of the Carranza LLP law firm was also on hand for the presentation. Carranza LLP was instrumental in organizing a fundraising event for the fund that raised over $10,000, which was then matched by the Carranza firm with an additional donation of $10,000.
"I am so grateful to all the people who donated and have shown their hearts and wanted to help," says Samaria Carolina Enamorado. "This has been a terrible tragedy for all the families but it is a comfort that people across Canada showed they care."
"In the 20 years we have been advocating for migrant workers, Canadians have shown the ability to come together to support those in tragic circumstances regardless of where their citizenship may lie. At UFCW Canada we are confident that such a spirit shall prevail as we continue to work with migrant workers across the country in order to halt the unwarranted attacks on them by the federal government," says Naveen Mehta, referring to the grossly unfair legislation relating to those who participate in the federal Temporary Foreign Workers Program. "For the survivors of this accident, this tragedy is continuing with their inevitable repatriation to Peru."
The first disbursements of the Migrant Workers Family Support Fund took place on May 9, 2012, in London, Ontario to Javier Alba Medina and Juan José Ariza. Medina and Ariza are two of the three survivors of the accident. UFCW Canada National President Wayne Hanley personally presented the cheques to Medina and Ariza. The two men are currently recovering from their injuries in a London, Ontario facility. Teresa Fulton, the widow of Ontario truck driver Christopher Fulton who was killed in the Hampstead collision, has also received her disbursement from the fund.