Feb 25, 2020

COUNTRY Financial® Awards $15,000 Grant to Adelante Mujeres

PORTLAND, Ore. – COUNTRY Financial is pleased to announce Adelante Mujeres is the recipient of a $15,000 grant. Adelante Mujeres is a non-profit based in Forest Grove, Oregon whose mission is to provide education and empowerment opportunities to low income Latina women and their families.  

COUNTRY Financial awarded the grant to support Adelante Mujeres’ Sustainable Agriculture program, which provides aspiring and existing Latino immigrant farmers and gardeners with the training necessary to grow produce using sustainable methods and to successfully market their products. The program includes a 12- week Sustainable Agriculture Course and Farm Business Course taught in Spanish, one-on-one coaching, and access to market. 

Adelante Mujeres, which currently serves over 8,000 Latina women and family members in and around Washington County, identifies participants for its programs through grassroots outreach, partner organizations, government agencies, civic and cultural engagement events.  

It was word of mouth that connected Mago Reyes, a young mother of three, to Adelante Mujeres. Participating in the Sustainable Agriculture program helped Reyes achieve her dream of owning a business. Reyes was 15 when she immigrated to the United States and became a single working mother when her husband was deported to Mexico. She had a job at a local farm and it was there, she grew an aspiration to own a farm of her own one day. 

By chance, a friend helped connect her with Alejandro Tecum, Adelante Mujeres’ Sustainable Agriculture Education Manager. Reyes enrolled in the program and learned about the business of running a farm and how to do it using organic farming methods. “At the beginning I was only thinking about how to make money, but when you start with your plants and are reading all the benefits of eating without pesticides or how you are polluting the water, I made the decision to plant without pesticide.” Today, she has a thriving business, Reyes Family Produce, growing and selling organic produce through Community Supported Agriculture and Forest Grove Farmers Market.  

“The support from Country Financial is essential for Latino farmers like Mago,” said Andrea Chunga-Celis, grants manager for Adelante Mujeres. “It ensures that we can continue to train and educate Latino farmers on sustainable growing techniques, farm business  development and provide new market channels for their locally-grown produce and ultimately, help more people like Mago, achieve their dreams.”

Country Financial proudly supports communities in Oregon where its employees and representatives  live and work through charitable donations, annual grants and volunteer efforts. Since 2008, Country Financial has awarded more than $2 million to nonprofit organizations with programs that are improving the financial security of families.

“It’s an honor to support Adelante Mujeres and its  efforts to help farmers and their families build a sustainable future and prosper,” said Richard Lucas, agency manager for COUNTRY Financial in Hillsboro. “Country Financial was founded more than 90 years ago by a group of farmers who  wanted to ensure their financial livelihood was protected, so this program is close to our hearts.”

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