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VOLUME 38 NUMBER 2 | SUMMER 2020

happily and deeply committed to family and Friends of Fieldworkers. As you pass the Lucas home in Mira Monte, you’ll see a tidy fruit stand out front, filled with free fresh fruit from their small citrus orchard. Their well-used van is blanketed with various peace-loving and heartfelt bumper stickers and decals, none of which is political or religious. As she steps out of the vehicle, Judy Lucas begins speaking, the youthful, angelic lilt of her voice belying a fierce commitment to the families who have become part of her own extended family. Judy opens the back of the van—packed with boxes of produce, piles of clothing to be sorted and sized, some books and, now a child’s rocking chair that will go to the young disabled daughter of a woman who works in the fields. Within a few hours, Judy has delivered all the goods to her families in Oxnard, and texts a photo of the joyous little girl in her new rocker. When confronted with the COVID-19 pandemic, the families’ needs have shifted, with many school-age children at home while their parents are at work, since those jobs are considered essential. Throughout these past few months, Judy, Ted and other Friends of Fieldworkers board members reached out to various organizations throughout the county, with positive results. Three to four volunteers from the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) of Ventura County shop, pick up and deliver food, diapers, shoes and other immediate needs to the families. The Social Justice Fund for Ventura County, Democratic Moms of Camarillo and the League of United Latin-American Citizens (LULAC) collected hundreds of pounds of Legos, new and used, so that the younger children can exercise their brains by focusing, building and creating. A Girl Scout group collected toys, art and school supplies. Conejo Community Outreach supplied diapers for several families. Amber’s Light Lions Club, Mount Cross Lutheran Church, All Saints Episcopal Church and other groups made masks, while Local Love and Food Forward provide boxes of food and other essential