Grow the Love 2025 Spring Fundraising Campaign 

Justice is what love looks like in public.
~Cornel West

Help Proyecto Faro grow the love this spring in order to amplify our public commitment to and realization of immigrant justice. 

Proyecto Faro needs $40,000 to plant 25 “seedlings” starting this spring 

Since 2025 will be a tough year for Rockland’s immigrants, PF has a plan to support our beloved community every step of the way. This spring we’ll begin to plant 25 “seedlings,” or strategies, designed to cultivate PF community leaders’ growth and enrich our programs this year. These strategies will help us achieve five ambitious goals so that immigrant’s leadership can continue to flourish and produce solutions for our communities, even during these challenging times:

1. Increase the number of immigrants we support & organize
2. Expand immigrant leadership development, engagement, & base-building work 
3. Increase community involvement and effectiveness in actions and advocacy campaigns that protect and support immigrants and their families
4. Strengthen partnerships and collaborations
5. Build the capacity and well-being of our staff 

How you, a person in solidarity, can prepare the ground for this bumper crop:

• If you’ve never donated to PF before, please become a new one-time or monthly donor
• If you’ve donated once or annually, become a monthly sustainer
• If you’re already a sustainer, increase your monthly donation (add an additional monthly gift here or email eroberts@proyectofarorockland.org to increase the existing gift.)

Ways to cultivate fundraising on Proyecto Faro’s behalf:

• Share our fundraising campaign with your networks via social media
• Hold a fundraising house party or congregation fundraiser for our campaign (contact info@proyectofarorockland.org if you would like to explore this with our staff)
• Take advantage of an employer matching program
  • Some employers match employee donations through online platforms. Ask your HR department if your company participates in an employer match program. 
  • PF is enrolled in Benevity.com. If your employer uses a different platform, please contact Development Director Tammy Arnstein at tarnstein@proyectofarorockland.org, so she can enroll PF.

The 25 “Seedlings,” or Strategies, to Meet Our 2025 Goals

GOAL I: INCREASE THE NUMBER OF IMMIGRANTS WE SUPPORT & ORGANIZE 

Through the Legal Empowerment Program 

1. Represent 20 people in court for defensive asylum cases and recruit 5 more immigrants supported by our legal empowerment work to return to help others.
2. Expand Know Your Rights work, training 10 more trainers, to reach greater numbers of immigrants and allies
3. Hold another 10 KYR trainings in schools throughout Rockland County
4. Hold X family emergency planning workshops

Through Mutual Aid Food Distribution

5. Recruit and train more volunteers to run our Mutual Aid Food Program, consisting of a weekly food distribution, community fridges, and a Community Cultures Garden
6. Increase partnerships with local businesses, food banks, and other community organizations to increase the pounds of food PF distributes each week
7. Organize additional food drives for non-perishable food
8. Install a new community fridge in Garnerville managed by a new volunteer team
9. Expand the number of weekly food deliveries to homebound community members

Through the Free Store 

10. Recruit and train more volunteers to staff the Free Store so we can increase the hours we’re open in our Stony Point location
11. Expand the Free Store Without Walls to more churches and community centers to increase accessibility to much needed clothes, housewares, and baby items

GOAL 2: EXPAND IMMIGRANT LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, ENGAGEMENT, & BASE-BUILDING

12. Increase leadership and organizing training for OPE and other community members 
13. Pair new volunteer leaders with ones for direct mentorship
14. Provide multilingual advocacy resources to help community members engage in organizing and scale up our volunteer language access services (interpretation & translation) 
15. Amplify our multilingual communications & outreach: revamp our website, improve our social media presence, and create more opportunities for people to connect with our programs

GOAL 3: ENGAGE IN ADVOCACY THAT MOVES THE NEEDLE ON POLICIES DESIGNED TO PROTECT & SUPPORT IMMIGRANTS & THEIR FAMILIES

16. Hire and train a new full-time organizer
17. Connect our newly trained leaders and organizers to our ongoing campaigns
18. Continue our support for OPE and work with the coalition fighting for educational justice for East Ramapo public schools
19. Actively engage immigrants and allies in the CARE for Immigrant Families state campaign (click here for details on this campaign)
20. Continue engagement in the New York for All state campaign  (click here for details on this campaign)

GOAL 4: STRENGTHEN PARTNERSHIPS & COLLABORATIONS

21. Develop new partnerships for our advocacy campaigns and strengthen collaborations with existing partners like Rock Immigration Coalition, Konbit Neg Lakay, NYCLU, Las Mejores Huellas de los Inmigrantes, Rockland Jews for Immigrant Justice, Rockland Coalition to End the New Jim Crow, Rockland Interfaith Social Action, and the Spring Valley NAACP.
22. Widen our referral networks through partners that provide direct services for housing support and job training to mental health services and educational opportunities
23. Build out the agenda and action steps of our new Multifaith Immigrant Defense Coalition launched in January 2025

GOAL 5: BUILD THE CAPACITY & WELL-BEING OF OUR STAFF                                     

24. Provide staff with ongoing professional development training to refine skills and develop new ones.
25. Prioritize self-care initiatives for staff who work with many traumatized people, recognizing the importance of emotional well-being in maintaining an effective and healthy team. We’ll introduce regular self-care activities and resources to help staff manage the demands of their roles and maintain overall wellness.