The Napa Valley Farmworker Foundation Donates Over $60,000 to the St. Helena Hospital Foundation COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic to Support Ag Workers

The Napa Valley Farmworker Foundation (FWF) is excited to announce a donation of over $60,000 in support of the St. Helena Hospital Foundation’s (SHHF) COVID-19 vaccination clinic.  Donations were generously contributed through a matching grant program, with the FWF and an anonymous donor matching donations dollar-for-dollar.  

The fundraising campaign’s success was made possible through the outpouring of monetary support from donors within the FWF and Napa Valley Grapegrowers (NVG) communities.  This donation follows an earlier $10,000 contribution when the vaccine clinic first opened, making the FWF’s total gift over $70,000 to-date.

The Napa Valley Farmworker Foundation and St. Helena Hospital Foundation have partnered throughout the pandemic to prioritize the health and safety of essential farmworkers.  In July, the FWF and NVG jointly funded the pilot program of SHHF’s mobile testing unit, which since then has successfully provided nearly 15,000 in-the-field COVID-19 tests for vineyard and winery workers.  

FWF’s most recent donation comes as the state focus has shifted toward the equitable distribution of vaccines among eligible sectors of the community. Napa County's farmworkers have provided essential work throughout the pandemic, and the SHHF has proven its commitment to the agricultural community and the community-at-large during these challenging times, putting Napa’s farmworkers and agricultural community first, from their very first day of vaccines two months ago.  To date, their clinic has administered nearly 20,000 vaccines, with over 10,000 vaccines that have gone to farmworkers.

“Since the pandemic began, the Farmworker Foundation has been a true community partner, first with their support of the mobile testing unit and now with our COVID-19 vaccination clinic,” said Glen Newhart, President and CEO, St. Helena Hospital Foundation, “We value this ongoing partnership and share the goal of providing essential ag workers direct, safe, and secure access to vaccines and important COVID-19 resources.”

While vaccine supply has posed challenges across the state, the SHHF team, with the support of the FWF and Napa County, designed a streamlined companywide sign-up program to ensure Napa’s farm-working community has continued access to vaccine appointments. Since this program began in February, FWF, along with NVG, have provided 500 hours of bilingual staff support, helping with scheduling, Spanish-translation, various site needs, and check-in at both the SHHF clinic and the Napa County vaccine clinic locations.

The FWF is proud to support equitable access to vaccines through the SHHF's efforts.  This critical funding will be used to assist SHHF in continuing vaccination efforts via the streamlined, companywide vaccination sign-up process.
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To speak with a Napa Valley Farmworker Foundation representative, please email Caroline Keller, Marketing Manager, ckeller@napagrowers.org