The Migrant Worker Project (MWP) Cup Soccer Tournament is returning in August for its second year.
It's put on by the North Lambton Community Health Centre (NLCHC), with the goal of providing the workers with a sense of belonging in the community.
They'll have eight to 10 teams comprised of area farm workers, as well as a squad made up of health centre employees.
Migrant Worker Project Coordinator Andrea Jones-Peper said the workers are excited for the second annual event after last year's success.
"We've given them soccer balls on each farm in order to practice," said Jones-Peper. "We've met with a few workers that were so excited, they're already talking about beating the previous winner which was Roelands Farms."
Jones-Peper said workers come from all over the world, and are sometimes here for multiple years.
"The majority of them are from Mexico and Jamaica secondly," she said. "They also come from the Eastern Caribbean, Dominican Republic, Columbia, Thailand, and Philippines."
NLCHC Executive Director Kathy Bresett is looking forward to the tournament.
"It's our first year with funding from TeamWorks, and it has surprised us just at the engagement of the workers and the appreciation of the activities that we've been doing," said Bresett. "The community support is also very refreshing. We've already had commitments from Enbridge and the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers. Some people are wanting to donate uniforms or food or part of the transportation. Whatever they feel like contributing is very helpful. It's a big day with a lot of people joining in and that helps us buy trophies or whatnot to make it super fun for everyone."
Bresett said overall they can see the value of their efforts to integrate the workers into the community. She said there are about 700 of them locally, and they've reached out to over 500.
"The Kineto Theatre has been doing shows in Spanish and we have international days," she said. "Everyone has kind of been contributing in an integrated fashion for this group. I think that's unique in the migrant worker work is that all of them are together."
The tournament will be held at the Taxandria Soccer Field in Arkona on August 25.
The opening ceremonies will begin at 10 a.m.
Everyone is welcome to come out and watch.
