Half Moon Bay volunteers make thousands of tamales as holiday treat for farmworkers
HALF MOON BAY – More than a hundred volunteers cooked and hand rolled thousands of tamales as a special holiday treat for farmworkers in Half Moon Bay.
"My background is in farmworking -- picking strawberries in the Salinas Valley. And so, I can relate to the hard labor," volunteer Betty Martinez told KPIX.
Recently retired, Martinez said even Parkinson's disease and a tremor in her hands wasn't going to stop her from pitching to help roll tamales.
"I've had Parkinson's for about 10 years. And although my mobility is getting more and more limited, I still try," she said.
Martinez and her friend Maria Salazar-Mancias said they first learned to make tamales as children at the hip of the female relatives in their families.
"Tamale making always turns out to be a party. People getting together, the conversations, the music. Tamale making is a big party," Salazar-Mancias said.
She said it is work, but it's also like getting a gift – a gift or joy and community this holiday season.
"It's a day of giving when we come together. We make tamales and we deliver them to the farm workers," she said.