A New Start - Laid-off farm workers taking advantage of help

More than 100 workers who lost their jobs when Money's Mushroom Farm closed have signed up for adult education classes at Fennville High School.

Money's Mushroom Farm, started in 1972 by Campbell's Soup Co. in Ganges Township, closed Monday, putting 260 employees, mostly migrant workers, out of work. The farm's current owner, Money's Foods Inc., has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings and put the farm up for sale several years ago.

Fennville is offering adult education classes in both English and Spanish to the displaced workers.

Gerardo Orozco, 33, of Pullman, is one of the former Money's workers who signed up for English as a Second Language classes last week.

"For 10 years, I dedicated myself to my job," he said in Spanish. "Now it is time for me to focus on English and preparation for a new job. It is a my most important priority and the priority we must have."

Orozco, who worked at Money's for more than 10 years, said he had signed up for ESL classes a few years ago, but was unable to attend on a regular basis because of his work schedule.

"We have over one hundred students currently enrolled in the Fennville Schools who could potentially be pulled out of classes if their parents have to leave the area to find new jobs," said David Coffindaffer, the district's director for academic services. "We have started a series of adult ed classes that will be taught in Spanish and English designed to help adults get their GED or a full high school diploma. And we will also teach conversational English."

Fennville could lose more than $600,000 in state aid if all of the Money's employees leave the area and pull their children out of the school district. Coffindaffer said district officials hoped to make the former Money's workers better prepared to find jobs locally.

"We think that would be the best thing for everybody," Coffindaffer said. "Many of these people have lived in the Fennville area many years and their kids have friends and attachments here that go back a long time and are important to their healthy development.

"It would be a shame if they had to be pulled out of school and have their education interrupted because their parents have to move away to find jobs."

Orozco said he would like to remain in the area and find work as a carpenter.

The school district also has brought in Farmworker Legal Services to help unemployed workers sign up for unemployment.

Michigan Works! and Telamon Corporation, a non-profit organization with an office in Holland that provides services to the poor, is working with the school district to secure funding for the classes.

Persons wanting information on the classes should call the school district at (269) 561-2343.

"It's a chance for the district to do something for the community and we hope they take us up on the offer," Coffindaffer said. "We think it will be to everybody's advantage."