---

Maria Roman de Arballo (left), Maria Elena Williams of the Episcopal Hispanic Ministry (center) and Billie (right). Billie spoke to a crowd of thirty farmworkers and parents at EHM’s office in Washington, NC this fall. Photo: Blas Ejapa

This Fall has taken Toxic Free NC staff on more journeys across our state than we’ve ever packed in to such a short time before! From Boone to Elizabeth City, and many places in between, we’re meeting an incredible assortment of people, many of whom are working locally for a healthier and more just North Carolina.

One great example of this fruitful travel is my collaboration with the Episcopal Hispanic Ministry (EHM) in Washington, NC on a pesticide drift info session this Fall. Over the past several months, working with Blas Ejapa, Victoria Gachuz, and other staff at EHM has taught me a great deal about working effectively with Hispanics in North Carolina. I admire EHM’s work so much because of the range of what they’re accomplishing, and the diversity of folks they’re working with to do it.

Pesticide-free kid at Toxic Free NC's Color-a-Bug booth at SwampFest, the annual county fair in Gatesville, NC. Photo: Billie Karel

EHM is both a service provider, with a variety of health and educational programs, and an advocacy group, organizing and empowering Hispanics to fight for just solutions to problems like unsafe housing and contaminated well water. I think one of the secrets to EHM’s success is their critical role as community builders for Hispanics in Beaufort County. Great power lies in community, and this seems especially true for Hispanics, whose legal and/or employment status make them particularly vulnerable as individuals.

EHM has invited me back to Washington this month to speak to families in their after school program about pesticides and children’s health. You can invite one of our staff to speak in your community, too! On the road in Washington and all across the state, Toxic Free NC is talking with everyone we meet about the School Children’s Health Act (HB 1502). It’s a piece of legislation that, if passed, would require NC public schools to adopt Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs that use safer alternatives to pesticides, and also protect students from several other common contaminants of the school environment.

Don’t just sit there: Get Involved! Invite Toxic Free NC to talk about protecting NC children from pesticides with people in your community. Carlos Marin is getting involved in pesticide reform in his hometown of Washington, NC. Photo: Blas Ejapa.

But no child should have to wait for a new law to get safer pest management at their school! Communities are winning IPM programs in their local school districts all across the state, and yours can be one of them. Get involved today!

Here’s how you can get involved!

1. Urge your NC Senator to support the School Children’s Health Act (HB 1502). Help to get the School Children’s Health Act passed in the 2006 legislative session by contacting your NC Senator today! Refer to the Summer 2005 issue of Toxic Free News, or to our website, for more information about this bill, and give us a call at 919-833-1123 for help contacting your Senator.

2. Bring us to your neck of the woods! We’d love to come spend some time in your community, and talk with people in your area about children’s health, alternatives to toxic pesticides, and how we can work together for local change. Are you part of a church congregation, PTA, political organization, environmental organization or other group that might be interested in inviting us to a meeting? Would you like to help organize a public presentation in your community? Give our Program Coordinator a call at: 919-833-1123, or write to her, to talk about the possibilities.